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SERMONS.

SERMONS

BY

SIR HENRY MONCREI^F WELLWOOD, Bart.

D. D. AND F. R. S. EDINBURGH,

ONE OF THE MINISTERS OF ST CUTHBERTS, EDINBURGH ;

AND SENIOR CHAPLAIN IN ORDINARY IN SCOTLAND

TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, THE

PRINCE OF WALES.

THIRD EDITION.

EDINBURGH:

PRINTED BY ALEX. SMELLIE,

Printer to the University,

FOR WILLIAM WHYTE, AND JOHN ANDERSON &. CO.

EDINBURGH ;

AND LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME & BROWN, LONDON.

1815.

TO

THE CONGREGATION

THE CHURCH OF St CUTHBERTS,

THIS VOLUME
IS RESPECTFULLY

AMD

AFFECTIONATELY
INSCRIBED BY

THE AUTHOR.

,.*':."'.--.;-

PREFACE. VTn

The writers of sermons have some disad-
vantages to combat which no other authors
experience in the same degree.

The subjects, to which they solicit the
attention of the public, cannot be new ;
and, at this late period of the Christian
Church, even novelty of illustration is
scarcely to be expected.

But, were it easy to surmount the preju-
dices of those, to whom novelty is the first

a 2

Viii PREFACE.

attraction ; or possible to disarm the seve-
rity of fastidious criticism, the writers of
sermons have to encounter an obstacle still
more formidable. There is a persuasion
which very generally prevails among some
classes of men, and especially among those
who have the least reason to adopt it, that
every thing which a sermon can contain is
already familiar to them ; and that it is
equally unprofitable and unpleasant, to
bestow their attention on subjects, of
which they have long had sufficient infor-
mation.

This prejudice is unhappily supported by
the resistance given to the influence of re-
ligion, by the passions and the spirit of the
world. He who is unwilling to subject

PREFACE. IX

himself to the obligations of Christianity,
is certainly ill-prepared to receive satisfac-
tion from truths or admonitions, which
contradict the habits of his life : And those
who derive their happiness from sources
very remote from religion, readily find rea-
sons for pronouncing that to be unneces-
sary or useless, which they have always
found by experience to be an ungrateful or
an irksome task.

But if the writers of sermons labour un-
der these difficulties, there are other consi-
derations which will be admitted to have
some effect to counterbalance them.

The subjects, which they profess to dis-
cuss, are of perpetual importance to man-
kind, and involve their most permanent in-

X PREFACE.

terests. And though the truths of religion
are always the same, the manners of the
world and the characters of men, to which
they ought to be applied, are subject to
perpetual variations. Though the same
doctrines and duties are inculcated in the
present age, which were preached in the
age of the apostles ; and though nothing
can be added either to their substance or
to their authority ; it is of the last impor-
tance to direct them to the consciences of
men in every age, and to their living man-
ners : To combat the circumstances which
rise in succession to obstruct their influ-
ence, and to take advantage of the va-
riety of facts and events, which occur in
the progress of human affairs, by which
they can be enforced or illustrated.

PREFACE. XI

Though persuasion is in general more the
aim of sermons than direct information, a
great proportion of the knowledge which
the people at large possess, they certainly
acquire by means of the Christian institu-
tions for public instruction. Those who
are most disinclined to the perusal of ser-
mons, and who affect to consider the topics
to which they relate, either as unimportant
or as already familiar to them, are not sel-
dom the persons who stand most in need
of the admonitions which they contain.
Though an author should not be able to
give them novelty, either of subject or of
illustration, if he is only successful in stat-
ing clearly and forcibly, to their conviction,
the duties of religion in connexion with
their legitimate motives, his labours must

XU PREFACE.

be allowed, by every wise and dispassionate
man, to possess an utility, altogether inde-
pendent of the science and learning, which
may distinguish the period of the world in
which he writes.

The author of the following sermons pre-
sumes not to think, that they have any pe-
culiar claims to the attention of the public.
He addresses them chiefly to the congrega-
tion, for whom they were originally pre-
pared. Of the thirty-four years during
which he has held the office of a minister,
he has officiated during thirty among them.
To promote their present and eternal in-
terests ought to be the object of his life :
And, accustomed, as they are, to his man-
ner of stating the doctrines and the duties

PREFACE. X11I

of religion, he allows himself to believe,
that, among them this volume will neither
be useless nor unacceptable.

He trusts he has as much purity of in-
tention, as to be more solicitous for the
usefulness, than for the reputation or popu-
larity of his book. But he has at least en-
deavoured to render the language and ar-
rangement perspicuous, and, when they
have occurred to him, to avoid provincial
peculiarities ; though perhaps in many in-
stances without success. He is sensible,
indeed, that a provincial ear (if that ex-
pression can be allowed) has frequently
misled him ; and he did not perceive some
of the mistakes which it has occasioned,
till it was too late to correct them*

XIV PREFACE.

It will be observed, that in two or three
of the following sermons, some of the same
topics are incidentally introduced. Of this
the author is fully aware ; and it was in
some degree unavoidable, in sermons pre-
pared at very different times. But, if he
is not mistaken, in the few instances in
which the same truths are repeated, the
illustrations are not the same, nor the pur-
poses to which they are applied.

With regard to the subjects illustrated
in this volume, he has only to add, that it
has been his chief object, to represent the
doctrines and the duties of Christianity as
inseparably united, in the faith and prac-
tice of those who embrace it. Practical
religion is of much more importance than

PREFACE. XV

the solution of difficult questions ; and the
sanctification and salvation of those who
profess to believe the gospel, than the
soundest opinions.

H. M. W.

Edinburgh February 13. 1805.

CONTENTS.

SERMON I.

On the Unequal allotments of Providence,
I. Cok. iv. 7»

Who maketh thee to differ from another? - Page 1.

SERMON II.

On the Minute Improvement of the Blessings of
Providence.

St John, vi. 12.

Jesus said to his disciples, Gather up the fragments that re-
main, that nothing be lost. ------ Page 38.

SERMON III.
On Self-Denial.

St Luke, ix. 23.
Jesus said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself. ----.-.,-■•■ page 70.

CONTENTS.

SERMON TV.

On the Form of Godliness.
II. Timothy, iii. 5.
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof;
from such turn away. ----.._ Pa^e 102.

SERMON V.

On Christian Faith and Morality,
Philippians, i. 27.
— That ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving
together for the faith of the gospel. ... Pa»e 135.

SERMON VI.

On the Result of Good and of Bad Affections.

ECCLESIASTES, IX. 6.

Their love and their hatred and their envy is now perished ;
neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thin»
that is done under the sun. ..... pa(Te igs.

SERMON VII.
On the Inheritance of a Good Mans Children*

Proverbs, xiii. 22.
A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children.

Page 203,

SERMON VIII.

On the Doctrine of Grace,

Romans, v. 20.
Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.. Page 235.

CONTENTS^

SERMON IX.

On the Conduct of Providence to Good Men.

Romans, viii. 28.
We know that all things work together tor good to them that
love God j to them who are the called according to his

_..---- Pace 272.

purpose. -------- - jtfDc<,,~.

SERMON X.

On the General Spirit and Effects of Christianity.
Luke, vii. 19.21.22.

And John calling unto him two of his disciples, sent them
unto Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come, or look
we for another ? And in that same hour he cured many of
their infirmities and plagues and of evil spirits ; and unto
many that were blind he gave sight. Then Jesus answer-
ing, said unto them, Go your way, and toll John what
things ye have seen and heard, how that the blind see, the
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead
are raised ; to the poor the gospel is preached. Page 305.

SERMON XI.
On the Universal Promulgation of Christianity*

Matthew, xxiv. 14.
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the
world, for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end
come. Page 356.

SERMON XII. '

The same subject continued, from the same text. Page 377.

CONTENTS.

SERMON XIII.

Prospects of Futurity. *
Matthew, xxvii. 29.
I say untuyou, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the
vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my
Father's kingdom. --- -»--«. Page 413*

SERMON XIV.
On the Cultivation of Personal Religion.

Jude, 20. 21.

But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy

faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the

love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord" Jesus

Christ, unto eternal life. --••-•- Page 448*

SERMON I.

ON

THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS OF
PROVIDENCE. •

1 CORTNTHIANS, iv. 7.

" Who maketh thee to differ from another ?"

1 here is no blessing of nature, of providence,
or of religion, which mankind have ever pos-
sessed, which has not been unequally bestowed
on them.

All the plans of Providence, and every por-
tion of the knowledge or advantages imparted to
men, have been laid open by degrees : One dis-
trict of the world enjoying an extent of infor-
mation, or of prosperity, from which- the neigh,
bouring countries have been completely exclu-
ded : the same people possessing more in one

A

2 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. 1.

age, than they have been permitted to trans-
mit to the ages following : and one generation
of men pursuing their advantages far beyond
the limits which had been prescribed to their fa-
thers.

Even the dispensations of religion, and the
revelations of God for the instruction and salva-
tion of mankind, have, in the wisdom of hea-
ven, been published and perfected by many de-
grees, through successive ages. They were at
first, in a great measure, confined to the pro-
mises which were given to the patriarchs. They
were afterwards more minutely unfolded to Mo-
ses and the prophets, who " testified beforehand
the sufferings of Christ, and the glory which
should follow*." Almost every portion of sub-
stantial knowledge on the subject was confined
for ages to one country of the world; while, for
aught we know, the people of every other dis-
trict blindly followed their idolatries. A ge-
neral promulgation of the doctrines of revela-
tion was not permitted till " the fulness of time"
predicted, when the Son of God was sent from

* 1 Peter, i. 11.

SER. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. 3

heaven to become "a light to enlighten the Gen-
tiles," and " salvation to the ends of the earth."

From that time the gospel was preached " for
the faith of all nations f though it has been re-
ceived with very different degrees of advantage
in different countries, and has not, even at this
remote period, reached every habitation of men.
It was early, and almost entirely, withdrawn
from the countries in which it was first planted ;
and has been with -held from many generations
of those whose fathers had once received it.

A minute attention to the history of the
world would suggest to us an immense variety
of facts, to demonstrate, That the distribution of
advantages, civil and religious, has been univer-
sally unequal ; and has been subject to perpe-
tual variations in every age and country. Suc-
cessive generations have lived and died in the
worst and in the best conditions of human life ;
the objects of the most limited or of the most
liberal distribution of the gifts of providence ;
following the most abject superstitions, or re-
ceiving the knowledge of salvation fFom Christ
and his apostles, " to guide their feet into the
way of peace."

a 2

4 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SEIl. 1.

The same fact may be stated from the circum-
stances of individuals, even when their external
situations are extremely similar: From the di-
versity in their original talents and dispositions;
from the advantages or the defects of their early
education ; from the local or the domestic bless-
ings which they possess, or which are not al-
lotted them ; from the prosperity or the cala-
mities which accompany their progress through
life; from the grace which is given them, or
which they do not attain.

The unequal distribution of the gifts of God
is a fact impressively written on every condition
of human life, on the personal endowments of
men, and on all their observation and expe-
rience.

There are {ew subjects, to which we ap-
ply our understandings, in which we can at-
tempt to do^more, than to ascertain the facts on
which they depend, and to deduce from them
the practical lessons which they ought to teach
us.

It is impossible for us to know, and in vain
to inquire, why God has given a clearer reve-
lation to the later than to the earlier ages ; or

SEIl. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. 5

better blessings to one country than to another ;
or greater advantages, or more special grace, to
•one individual than to his neighbour.

But the practical instruction resulting from the
facts, which ought to determine our personal
conduct, is equally obvious and forcible. It is
naturally suggested to us by the question stated
in the text, " Who hath made thee to differ
from another?"

The consideration of the authority, under
which we receive and possess whatsoever dis-
tinguishes our conditions, goes deep into the
duties and obligations of the present life, and
leads our thoughts directly to the ultimate ac-
count, which shall be required of our conduct.

I shall endeavour to illustrate the practical in-
struction which the question in this text ought
to bring home to us, by shewing,

1. That the consideration of the authority of
God, under which we are all equally placed,
notwithstanding the variety in our conditions,
ought to teach us an implicit acquiescence in
the duties and in the lot assigned us.

2. That our obligation to cultivate, and our
danger from the perversion of the blessings we

6 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. 1.

have received, are exactly the same, whatever
our portion of advantages is. And,

3. That the sentence, which shall at last bar
pronounced on our conduct at the tribunal of
God, will have a special relation to the advan-
tages which have been given, or have been deni-
ed us ; and to the condition in which every in-
dividual has served God, or has sinned against
him. I am to shew,

1. That the consideration of the authority of
God, under which we are all equally placed,
notwithstanding the variety in our conditions,
ought to teach us an implicit acquiescence in the
duties and in the lot assigned us.

There is no situation of human life, which
has not its peculiar disadvantages or hardships.
While we perceive the blessings which are deni-
ed to us, and are given to others, or experience
the difficulties from which they are exempted,
we are in danger of indulging a dissatisfaction,
or a chagrin, very unsuitable to our dependence
on the government of God. " Why should I
be doomed to perpetual toil and labour (will
the querulous spirit sometimes say), to procure
bread to myself or to my children ; while my

9ER. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. 7

neighbour has only to enjoy that which others
have provided for him, and has no fear that his
resources shall fail r" Or, " Why have I been
placed in a situation which has effectually de-
barred me from the opportunities of acquiring
the knowledge, or the wealth, or the success in
life, so liberally bestowed on the family of my
neighbour? Why should my duties constantly
lie, where I have every thing to suffer, and little
to expect ; among those who can make me no
return, or who are themselves the instruments
of the severity of my lot? Why should the du-
ties of this life be allowed to press so hard on
me, to whom so small a portion is allotted of
its comforts or advantages ; while the duties of
those around me are attached to situations in
which they are supported by associates, who
add to their resources, and cheer their habita-
tions, enjoying blessings which they have not
earned, or the calm satisfactions of domestic
life?"

Questions such as these, which the querulous-
ness or impatienceof individuals suggests to them,
from the unequal allotment of situations which
cannot be the same, are completely answered to

8 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. It

a man of deliberate reflection, by a single ques-
tion opposed to them: " Who hath made thee
to differ from thy neighbour?" Not the will of
man, or his arrangements; not the caprice or
the injustice of the world. The Almighty
Creator and Lord of heaven and earth hath
given thee thy place, and selected thy duties ; he
" who hath made of one blood all the nations
of men, — and hath determined the bounds of
their habitations;" to whose purpose every crea-
ture is subservient. Thy neighbour's blessings
and his prosperity are his gifts ; and so is every
thing which softens thy sorrow, which com-
forts thy dwelling, which alleviates thy burden,
which helps thy infirmities, or which cheers
thy labours. It is impossible to murmur against
him, who must have the entire distribution of
his own gifts; who regulates and proportions
them by the rules of infinite wisdom, and by
means and ends unsearchable to us ; and whose
tender mercies predominate in the worst condi-
tions of human life.

The universality of unequal distribution, at-
tested by the indelible memorials of every age
and country, takes away every source of indivi-

SER. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. 9

dual complaint; .and ought to teach us the most
entire acquiescence in our personal lot.

The private circumstances of men are not to he
considered merely in the separate or disjointed
forms in which they affect their personal feel-
ings. They constitute an essential part of one
general and extended plan with regard to the
intelligent creation, carried on by the wisdom
and sovereignty of God, from the beginning of
ages to the end of time.

When we fix our attention on this point, we
feel that we are, in our own situations, appoint-
ed to become " fellow workers together with
God," to promote or to be subservient to the
ends of his universal government, by means of
our individual fidelity : And we must be con-
scious that the diversity, both of our conditions
and of our talents, must subsist, till the duties
of our several departments in the great plan of
heaven shall be completed ; and till we shall be
capable of a higher sphere of service, among
those who have " finished their course" in suc-
cession before us.

This consideration ought to be sufficient to
check every murmur as it rises, even though

10 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. 1.

we were able to perceive none of the reasons
which determine the unequal allotments of pro-
vidence.

But I add, that though a great part of the
plan of providence is of necessity beyond our
reach, we have as much knowledge of it as
ought to convince us, that our acquiescence is as
reasonable in itself, as it is essential to the sub-
jection which we owe to God.

Every man's understanding informs him, that
the duties of human life could never be fulfilled,
if all men had the same offices, or the same
place, or the same advantages ; and that the di-
versity of gifts, of talents, and of situations, is
adapted by the wisdom of God to the diversity
of duties assigned to individual men. It is not
less evident, that different characters, different
dispositions, and different virtues, could neither
be tried nor disciplined by the same means, or
by the same duties, or in the same conditions.
We can therefore have no more right to com-
plain of the varieties in our lot, than of the ob-
vious differences in our talents and capacities, or
in the duties which we are required to fulfil*
The diversity has in every instance the same

SER. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. 11

ultimate source, whatever the means or the in-
struments may be by which it is ascertained
or promoted. Though our situations are often
varied and determined by our personal conduct,
or by the conduct and the passions of other
men, whom God employs as the instruments of
his purpose, we are as much bound to submit
to that which God permits in the general order
of human affairs, as to acquiesce in that which
he specially appoints; and have good reasons
to believe, that the effect is in both cases sub-
servient to the same ultimate end — the glory
" of him who worketh all in all." " Surely the
wrath of man shall praise thee," says the Scrip-
ture ; " the remainder of wrath thou wilt re
strain*."

These examples may serve as specimens of
the reasons of unequal distribution, which are
not quite beyond our observation. A man,
whose judgment is enlightened by his faith in
God, may discern many others ; and may fol-
low much farther the minute relations which
these bear to one another, and to the obligation

* Psalm lxxvi* 10.

12 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. 1.

which lies on his conscience to acquiesce impli-
citly in the lot assigned him.

Much must no doubt remain unknown, on a
subject which resolves itself into the wisdom of
God. Our imbecility or ignorance will always
perplex us with difficulties, or with apparent
contradictions, when we presumptuously attempt
to fathom the depths of infinite perfections. But
he, who clearly perceives that the unequal al-
lotments of providence are demonstrated by
facts, alike prominent and impressive in the
dispensations of religion, and in the course of
human life, will feel his indispensible obligation
to repress every murmur as it rises; to keep his
mind steadily attached to the duties of his own
place; and to acquiesce with humility and re-
verence in the wisdom which is beyond his
search. He cannot have a reason to complain
of the inequality which afreets himself while he
knows, on the one hand, that the greatest of all
the gifts of God " was hid from ages and gene-
rations," was brought to light by many grada-
tions, and has been withheld from multitudes
of the human race, in the latest times : Or
while he is conscious, on the other hand, that

SER. I. OF PROVIDENCE. 15

it is a fact which no man's understanding will
permit him to deny, that the same unequal dis-
tribution has adhered to the endowments of our
nature, as well as to every blessing of this life,
from the beginning of the world to the present
time, in every nation under heaven, and in every
family of the earth.

A o-ood man's confidence in the plan of God,
restrains and supersedes the anxiety of mind
which would destroy his happiness, and leaves
him only duties and obligations to fulfil ; while
it teaches him to commit the result of eve-
ry thing to God, and to trust all his per-
sonal interests implicitly and devoutly in his
hands.

We shall have another view of the practical
instruction suggested in the text, by consider-
ing*

2. That, notwithstanding the inequality of

distribution, our obligation to cultivate and our
danger from the perversion of the blessings we"
have received, are exactly the same, whatever
our portion of advantages is.

It is no argument against our obligation to
fulfil our real duties, that we do not possess ei-

14 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER, 3.

ther the opportunities or the talents of other
men. Our duties ought to come home to our
consciences, according to the authority which
enforces them, and in proportion to the means
which we possess of fulfilling them. If our
means are limited, our duties have a precise cor-
respondence to them; and our obligations are
as indispensible, and are as inseparably attached
to our situations when our advantages are few,
as when we have received a thousand talents
above our fellows. If we are destitute of the
endowments which they possess, we are bound
to consider, not why we have received so little,
but how we shall be able to cultivate the full
extent of the talents which have been given us ;
not why a difficult duty is assigned us, but how
that difficult duty shall best be fulfilled; not
why we hold a lower place, or have less know-
ledge, or more limited talents, or less prosperity,
than other men ; but how we shall most effec-
tually render our place subservient to the glory
of God, and to the useful and faithful applica-
tion of the advantages which we possess. The
obligation is precisely the same, whether we have

SEIl. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. J5

received much or little ; and is in every instance
equally indispensible.

On the other hand, the danger of perversion
is also exactly the same, whatever our portion
of advantages is. The neglect or abuse of the
meanest endowments, and the violation of the
duties of the lowest place, are followed by ef-
fects as real on the conduct of human life, and
on its final results, as could have arisen from
the perversion of the greatest talents, in the most
distinguished conditions.

He who is unfaithful in the lowest offices
obstructs the business and the duties of human
life, with as much certainty, though not in the
same degree, as he who violates the duties of
the most conspicuous station; and the impartial
Judge, who has given to each his place, shall
pronounce sentence on the guilt of both with
the same severity, although with circumstances
adapted to their separate obligations. " Every
man shall ultimately bear his own burden ;,%
" and there is no respect of persons with God."
We shall answer to God for the least as well as
for the greatest violations of our personal duties;
and for the precise use to which our talents have

16 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. 1.

been applied, whether they have been many or
few. On the other hand, if God shall accept
our service in the lowest departments, or with
the most limited advantages of human beings,
we are as certain that its final consequence or
result shall be eternal happiness in the king-
dom of God, as we could have been, if our
sphere of duty had been given us among pro-
phets and apostles.

How impressive is the doctrine which brings
home to us this persuasion ! How effectually
should it operate on our minds, to stir us up to
godliness and to good works, and to stimulate
or confirm our ardour in our personal duties ;
that nothing may be found to have been ne-
glected, that nothing essential to them may be
wanting, and that no advantage, which ought
to have been applied to them, may appear to
have been lost when our probation shall be fi-
nished. How irresistible should the motive be,
which this doctrine urges on our consciences,
to persuade us to abide steadily by the place and
by the duties assigned us, according to the in-
tention of him who has selected them; whilst.

SER. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. 17

we look forward to their final result and effects
in the kingdom of God !

The interests of every individual are deeply
involved in this view of the subject. We shall
receive the result of the most inferior talents
which we have faithfully used, with as much
certainty as the effect of the greatest; and shall
as certainly suffer for the perversion of the least
as of the best endowments. In like manner,
those to whom God has given a superior un-
derstanding, or greater wealth, or more exten-
sive talents, or more knowledge, or better op-
portunities, or more enlightened views, or
stronger impressions of religion than have been
vouchsafed to other men, have received all these
advantages, as the means of discharging their
personal duties, and of accomplishing their pro-
bation in this life: And the result of their con-
duct in the application of them must be eternal.

There is an awful admonition to prosperous
men, contained in the parabolical address of
Abraham to the rich man who " lifted up his
eyes in hell." « Son, remember that thou in
thy lifetime receivedst thy good tilings, and like-
wise Lazarus evil things ; but now he is com-

B

18 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SEK. 1.

forted, and thou art tormented*." What an im-
pressive lesson is this, to him whose cup is full,
and whose probation is not yet completed \ To
rouse him to a purer, to a more earnest, to a
more faithful service than he has yet fulfilled ;
to convince him of the responsibility under
which his peculiar talents have placed him; and
to teach him to rest his satisfactions, far less in
the possession of superior advantages, than in
the attainment of the legitimate ends to which
they ought to be applied.

He is happy, indeed, whom God has prosper-
ed on the earth, and blessed with many talents,
if he has faithfully used them in the fear of God,
and has neither received nor enjoyed them in
vain. The use to which he has applied the sta-
tion assigned him, creates a distinction for him,
far greater than the mere possession of any advan-
tages could have given him; and to him the re-
sult is certain, and is permanent in the kingdom
of heaven. His faith shall not fail when his
strength is gone. He shall find his place where
the faithful live for ever, and where " they
shine as the stars in the firmament of God."
* Luke xvi. 25.

SER. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. 19

But it is impossible not to add, that he is
truly wretched and debased, who follows out
steadily or conscientiously no part of the ser-
vice assigned him ; or who deliberately or ha-
bitually turns his capacities or his advantages,
be they great or small, against his known and
essential duties; who, though he has possessed
talents sufficient to have enabled him to glorify
God in his own condition, has, with perhaps a
tew exceptions (as the worst of men will some-
times act from pure intentions), spent his life
without principle, without fidelity, without
usefulness, " without God, and without hope
in the world." Whatever his sphere of duty
may be at present, his last portion must be gi-
ven him among the most wretched of the hu-
man race. The term of probation is short, but
its consequences last for ever.

There is still one branch of the subject re-
maining. I have to shew,

3. That the sentence which shall at last be "
pronounced on our conduct, at the tribunal of
God, will have a special relation to the advan-
tages which have been given, or have been de-

20 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. I,

nied us, and to the condition in which every
individual has served God, or has sinned against
him.

Our original ideas of the perfections of God,
and of his immutable justice, are sufficient to sa-
tisfy us, that our talents and advantages are in
general the measure of our duties, and must have
an intimate relation to the account which we
shall render to God.

We go a step farther, when we consider the
rules by which the principles of our nature lead
us invariably to form our estimate of one ano-
ther. We do not require from any man servi-
ces which we are sensible he has not the means
of fulfilling, or the use of talents which we
know he does not possess. We do not judge
with equal severity of the same defects in an

ignorant and in a well-informed man: or take
o

the same view of the extent of duties, common
to both, which they have very different means
of discharging. We distinguish exactly betwixt
the ignorance which is invincible, and that kind
of incapacity which is the effect of deliberate
negligence and perversion. We estimate the
fidelity of men, in all situations, by the oppori

SfcR. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. 21

tunities which they might have used, and do not
in any instance connect it with those which were
entirely beyond their reach. As far as morality
is concerned, the diversity of our talents is uni-
formly taken into our account, when we are
judging among ourselves of good conduct or
demerit.

The impressions of justice with regard to one
another, which are engraven on our minds,
although, from our ignorance of human cha-
racters, they are often misapplied, are original
memorials within us, of the laws by which our
personal conduct shall be judged at the tribunal
of God.

There is another fact in the history of human
life, which we ought to consider as confirming
them. Our talents grow in our possession, in
some proportion to the ardour with which we
employ them : And, on the other hand, we lose
the advantages which we had received, when
we have either neglected to cultivate them at
the proper season, or have not applied them to
their legitimate ends, or have perverted them
to purposes contrary to the design for which
they were bestowed on us. We reap the ef-

22 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SElt. 1.

fects of our activity, with more certainty, than
even the result of our original endowments ;
and suffer more from the perversion of talents,
than even from the want of them.

Facts of this kind, of which every man feels
the impression, because they are inseparable
from our conditions as intelligent creatures, serve
as a perpetual pledge and memorial, of the rela-
tion which the last sentence to be pronounced
on our conduct shall bear, not only to the pre-
cise advantages which have been given or de-
nied us, but to our personal improvement or
perversion of them.

I do not mention them as arguments or spe-
culations : I mention them as facts, which il-
lustrate the moral government of God ; which
have an intimate relation to its final result; and
which (as I am now to shew) accord exactly
with the precise and definite explanations given
us by the gospel.

In our Lord's parable of the talents, related
in the 25th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew*
he represents those who have equally cultivated

* Matthew jhml 14—30,

SliR. 1. OF PROVIDENCE* 23

very unequal talents, as receiving each a reward
in proportion to the talents which were given
him : He who had received five talents, is de-
scrihed as accounting for five ; he who had two,
as accounting for two ; and both are represented
as attaining the result of their fidelity, in pro-
portion to the account which was required of
them. On the other hand, he who had receiv-
ed but one talent, is made to account as strict-
ly for that one, as he could have been required
to account if he had received five; and he suf-
fers the punishment incurred by the perversion
of one, with as much severity as could have
been applied to him, if he had possessed and
perverted all the talents which had been given
to his fellow-servants. He is condemned, not
because he did not gain two or live talents, but
because, having but one talent to employ, he
did not gain, or endeavour to gain, one talent
more ; because the single advantage which was
given him was neglected, or was " hidden in
the earth," in contempt of his Lord's authority.
No illustration can be more pointed or exact,
than this is, of the strict and definite account
which shall be demanded of us at the tribunal

24 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. 1.

of God, of the precise situations in which we
have acted, and of our personal application of
the peculiar talents which have been entrusted
to us.

Our Lord has given us another example to
illustrate the same doctrine, from the rules by
which we form our estimate of one another.
He mentions the fact, that "to whom men
Lave committed much, of him they will ask
the more;" and uses it to illustrate the con-
duct of God to " the servant who knew his
will," and to him who did hot know it. " That
servant," he says*, " which knew his Lord's
will, and prepared not himself, neither did ac-
cording to his will, shall be beaten with many
stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit
things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with
few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is
given, of him shall much be required ; and to
Avhom men have committed much, of him they
will ask the more."

He is not guiltless who sins in ignorance, if
the means of better information are within his

* Luke xii. 47. 48.

*£R. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. 25

Teach ; and he suffers in proportion to the guilt
of a criminal ignorance or negligence. But, in
comparison with him who has sinned against,
his conscience, or conviction, " he shall be beat-
en," according to this parable, " with few stripes:**
A circumstance, to which our Lord referred
when he prayed on the cross for his merciless
tormentors ; " Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do*:" A circumstance*
which the apostle Peter had in his eye, when,
in addressing the Jews who crucified our Lord,
he said, " And now, brethren, I wot that through
ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulersf :"
A circumstance, which the apostle Paul, who
had no design to exculpate himself, or to lessen
the guilt of the first part of his life, mentions and
applies to his own conversion; " I was before a
blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious ; but
I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in
unbelief^."

He is not free from blame who ought to have
been better informed. But his transgression is
far more aggravated, who knew precisely the

* Luke xxiii. 34. -f Acts iii. 17. $ 1 Tim. i. 13;

26 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. 1.

will of God, and deliberately set himself against
it ; and the sentence to be pronounced on his
conduct, shall be in proportion, not only to the
sins which he has committed, but to the know-
ledge which he has abused, and the sense of
duty by which he ought to have been deter-
mined.

There is one other statement of the same doc-
trine, given us by the apostle Paul in the Epistle
to the Romans : " There is no respect of persons
with God : For as many as have sinned without
law, shall also perish without law ; and as many
as have sinned in the law, shall be judged by
the law*."

Here the doctrine is applied to the situations
of those who have received the least, and of
those who have enjoyed the best, external and
religious advantages. Every man s conduct is
estimated by the opportunites which he has
really possessed, and by the precise circumstan-
ces in which he has sinned against God, or has
obeyed his will. No man is condemned because
he did not possess the means of duty, or is tried

* Rom. ii. 11. 12.

&EK. I. Oi. PIIOVIDENCE. 2/

by advantages which were given to his neighbour,
and were with-held from him ; but every indivi*
dual is condemned, or acquitted, according to
the specific advantages which were allotted to
himself. Superior opportunities are represented
as the aggravations of his guilt who has not
used, or who has perverted them ; while the
most limited talents, the most imperfect infor-
mation, and the most defective external advan-
tages, are affirmed to be the measure of his ac-
count, who has received no more, or who has
had no more placed within his reach.

This, then, is the general language both of
reason and of Scripture, concerning the relation,
which the last sentence of God on the conduct
of men shall bear to the advantages, which have
been given or have been denied them in this
life. When this part of the subject is connect-
ed with the implicit acquiescence in the duties
assigned us in our several conditions, which the
sense of the authority of God, under which we
are all equally placed, ought effectually to teach
us ; and with our indispensible obligation to cul-
tivate, and our danger from the perversion of the
blessings we have received, whether they are

28 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SEll. I.

many or few ; we must be conscious, that the
general doctrine, illustrated under these heads,
is of the most solemn and impressive kind. I
beseech your attention, therefore, to the three
following views of its practical application.

1. The doctrine, which I have attempted to
illustrate, ought to teach those in the lowest de-
partments of human life, how strict even their
account shall he at the tribunal of God.

I say to every one of them, it is in vain to
murmur against God, because he has given
more to others than he has bestowed on thee.
This was what the unprofitable servant did,
when he addressed this presumptuous language
to his Lord ; " I knew that thou art an hard
man, reaping where thou hast not sown *."
He thought with sullenness, or he thought with
malignity, of the distinction which had been
made betwixt him and his fellow-servants, in
the distribution of the talents entrusted to them ;
and, disdaining the authority under which he
was placed, " he hid his talent in the earth," till

* Matthew xxv. 24.

SER. ]. OF PROVIDENCE. 29

lie was overwhelmed by the retribution which
he had deliberately provoked.

That which God has allotted to thee, is thy
portion, both of duty and of talents, and must
be the measure of thy last account. Nothing
shall be required which was not given, or which
might not have been attained. If thou hast only
to labour in the house, or in the field, it is there
that thy iidelity is to be proved and tried. If
thou art required to Buffer much, or even to suf-
fer through life, it is thy peculiar duty " to reve-
rence the rod, and him who hath appointed it;''
and to believe, that it is by patience and by suf-
fering, that thy personal account to God must be
prepared. To thee it is nothing that thy neigh-
bour has received more, or that he enjoys a bet-
ter portion, than has been given to thee. " To
his own master he standeth or falleth*." But
it is of the utmost importance to consider, that
" every man shall bear his own burden;" and
that thou shalt be required to account as strictly
for the duties of the place which has been assign-
ed tb.ee, as the most prosperous man can be call-

* Rom. xiv. 4;

30 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. 1,

ed to answer for the greatest advantages, or for
the most superior endowments.

If, with the limited advantages of the poor,
thou hast neither acquired contentment, nor in-
dustry, nor gratitude, nor integrity, nor resigna-
tion, nor trust in God ; the contrary vices, tc ex-
cept thou shalt repent," must, of necessity, seal
thy condemnation " at the judgment of the great
day." It shall avail thee nothing that thou hast
received little, if thou hast perverted whatso-
ever was given thee, to violate thy known duties,
or to set at defiance the authority of God, and
the law of Christ. Poverty and profligate man-
ners united, are sources of consummate wretch-
edness in this world ; and human language can
save us but a faint idea of their final result in
the world to come.

But, on the other hand, it ought to invigorate
the hearts of the helpless and of the poor, who
" forsake not their own mercies," to know, that
the integrity, and the personal virtues, of those
who are placed in the lowest departments, at-
tain their end in the kingdom of God, with as
much certainty, as the fidelity which has been

SER. 1. pF PROVIDENCE. 31

proved by the most splendid service. He who
is " faithful in little," is approved in heaven, as
well as " he who is faithful in much." God
judges by the same rule the great and the small.
He knows every individual man, and follows
him with his eye. He thinks with kindness and
forbearance of the meanest of his servants : And
he writes with the same affection, " in the book
of lite," the fidelity of him who has the lowest
place, and of him who has the most conspicuous
talents.

2. The doctrine, which I have attempted to
illustrate, ought to come home with a peculiar
force, to those on whom Providence has bestow-
ed superior advantages among their brethren.

What an account hast thou to render, who,
in point of understanding, or of wealth, or of
active talents, or of prosperity through life, or
of many of these separate advantages united,
hast been far distinguished above thy fellow-
servants !

If thou hast hardened thine heart against the
authority of God; and, instead of having appli-
ed thy mind to godliness, or to good works, hast
deliberately employed thy superior advantages

S2 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. i,

against thy duties, to render thy vices more con-
spicuous, than they would have been, if" thou
hadst held one of the most limited conditions
of human life ; think not that this aggravated
perversion has escaped the eye of the Judge of
all, or that thou shalt not be strictly required to
answer for it at his tribunal. He shall demand
an account of every talent, of every opportunity,
and of every good impression which he has given
thee : and except thou shalt repent in earnest,
and shalt hear the voice of the Son of God in
mercy, before u the day of wrath" shall come,
the meanest of the poor shall be received with
kindness, when thy doom shall be fixed with
the worst of the wicked.

There is one source of perversion, to which
those who possess superior talents, or enjoy un-
usual prosperity, are peculiarly liable. Con-
scious of the distinction they have attained, they
are perpetually in danger of indulging an inor-
dinate self-esteem, or of expressing, in their in-
tercourse with other men, such sentiments of
vain-glory and pride, as are altogether unsuitable
to the character of dependent beings. It is
the chief design of the text before us, to guard

SEU. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. 33

us against this common, but fatal abuse of the
gifts of Qod. " Who hath made thee to differ
from another?" says the apostle, " and what hast
thou which thou hast not received? Now, if
thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if
thou hadst not received it*?" It is the <rood
pleasure of God, or his good providence alone,
which confers blessings on one man which are
not allotted to another : and lie who glories
among his brethren when his cup is full, does
not merely sin against his neighbour, who is
wounded by his pride; but " he lifts up his horn
on high" against the almighty and universal
Lord of all. " Pride was not made for man, nor
high looks for him who is born of a woman :"'
And " he who hath made one individual to differ
from another,5' " knoweth the proud afar off."

Every man of understanding must be consci-
ous of the advantage of superior talents, both for
the ends and the duties of the present life: But
it is impossible not to feel, that it is equally pre-
posterous and unworthy, to render them subser-
vient to the pride and to the passions of the mo-

* 1 Cor. iv. J. :
c

34 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. 1.

ment; entirely and absolutely dependent as we
are, for every thing in our possession, and fast
preparing to drop together into the grave, where
every external distinction is lost for ever. " The
small and great are there; and the servant is
free from his master V

On the other hand, the doctrine which the
text ought to bring home to us, is most interest-
ing and consolatory to those who have in any
degree faithfully employed superior talents.
Their sphere of duty is high ; but the result shall
have an exact correspondence to it. They shall
be judged among their brethren by their effi-
cient means, and by their real duties : and
though their imperfections will certainly be
found in the account of their best services to
God and men, whatsoever they have done in
faith, or done in earnest, or done in love, or
done to God, or done to helpless men, or done
** to a disciple in the name of a disciple," or clone
in humility, with any measure of pure inten-
tions, shall be accounted to them as gain in " the
day of the Lord." " I know thy works," saith

* JoJ) iji. 19.

SER. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. 35

the Son of God, " and thy labour, and thy pa-
tience"— and " that for my name's sake thou
hast laboured, and hast not fainted *." " Who-
soever shall confess me before men, him will I
confess also before my father who is in hea-
ven t." I add,

3. That the doctrine which I have endea-
voured to illustrate, ought to make a deep im-
pression on those who have received a large
portion of religious advantages, by means of the
" gospel of the grace of God."

Ages and generations of men have lived and
died without the knowledge of the gospel : and
yet every man shall be condemned at the tribu-
nal of God, who has perverted the talents which
he did possess; and who, in the application of
his personal advantages, whatsoever they have
been, lias deliberately sinned against his con-
science in the sight of God. " Of how much
sorer punishment shall they be accounted wor-
thy," who pervert or neglect the great salvation
of the gospel; " who count the blood of the co-

* Rev. ii. 2. and 3. t Matthew x. 32.

36 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. 1.

venant an unholy thing, or do despite unto the
Spirit of Grace*?"

Men of every order, who have had the bene-
fit of the gospel, shall account to God, not only
for the superior advantages of the dispensation
under which they have lived, and for the light
and information which it has spread around
them ; but for every good impression which it
has made on their minds ; for every good in-
tention, or strong conviction of duty, which it
has at any time awakened within them ; for
every good motive, or desire, with which it has,
in any instance, inspired them; for every duty
which it has urged them to fulfil ; for the ef-
fects of every temptation which it has warned
them to shun ; for every sin which it has brought
home to their consciences ; for all the repent-
ance to which it has solicited or incited them;
and for the reception which they have given to
the mercy and salvation promulgated by him,
" whom God set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood," that " whosoever
believeth on him," " might receive the remission
of sins."

* Heb. x. 29.

SER. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. 37

This must, indeed, be a solemn account, sup-
posing it to be minutely taken. The last sen-
tence to be pronounced on our conduct will be
an awful sentence, if the gospel shall be ulti-
mately found " to have come to us in word on-
ly *," aIlu* not "in demonstration of the spirit
and of power f :" or, if it shall appear before the
tribunal of God, that though we have professed
to believe Christianity, we have not attained
the ends of our faith.

Even under the gospel, our advantages are by
no means equal. But every man shall answer
in his own place for the effects of the gospel on
his own mind, and for all the doctrine of salva-
tion, as well as for every impression of duty,
which it has ever brought home to his convic-
tion.

Happy is he, who can say with a full per-
suasion, " To me to live is Christ, and to die is
gain J." "I am crucified with Christ, never-*
theless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me ;
and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live
by the faith of the Son of God ||."

* 1 TIicss. i. 5. . f 1 Cor. ii. 4.

I Philip, i. 21. j| Gal. ii. 20.

SERMON It

ON

THE MINUTE IMPROVEMENT OF THE
BLESSINGS OF PROVIDENCE.

ST JOHN vi. 12.

u Jesus said to his disciples, gather up the frag-
merits that remain, that nothing be lost"

The instruction we may receive from the spi-
rit of this text, is not confined to the subject to
which it was originally applied. I am to illus-
trate a variety of examples, to which the lan^
guage of the text may be adapted, by which
men, in the most different situations, may be
able to estimate both their obligations and their
fidelity.

The advantages which the providence of God
bestows on us in this life, are all. liable to be di-

SER. 2. OF FIDELITY, 39

minished by events, and to be gradually ex-
hausted. But our obligation to employ them
faithfully for the purposes for which we have
received them, is unalterably the same, as long-
as any part of them remains in our possession.
He who regulates our duties by our means of
fulfilling them, with exact discrimination, re-
quires us to account to him as strictly for the
smallest portion of blessings, or of talents, which
is permitted to remain with us, as for the advan-
tages which we continue to possess in their full
extent.

When our Lord had miraculously fed five
thousand men, with five loaves and two fishes,
he said to the twelve apostles, " Gather up the
fragments which remain, that nothing be lost."

I select the following examples to illustrate
the minute improvement of the blessings of pro-
vidence which this fact may be employed to
suggest to us : u The fragments" of the provi-
sion made for our temporal necessities — " The
fragments" of our time — " The fragments" of
our private comfort, or of our personal advan-
tages— " The fragments" of our health, or of
our vigour.

40 THE MINUTENESS SER. 2.

The obligation is indispensible, " that nothing
shall be lost" in the management of any of
these blessings, or in the use or application of
the least portion of them which remains to us.
None of the examples is foreign to the language
of the text ; aud when they are taken together,
they will lead us far into the business of human
life, and into the duties by which good men
ought to prove their faith, and to adorn it. I
direct your attention,

I. To " the fragments" of the provision made
for our temporal necessities ; for this was the
original subject to which the text was applied.

If ever there was a time, when the care of
fragments might have been thought useless or
unnecessary, we might have supposed that to
have been the time, when our Lord had kd
" five thousand men' with "five loaves and two
fishes;" and, by so doing, had shewn his dis-
ciples how easy it was for him to provide for
every possible situation in which they could be
placed. Yet this was precisely the time which
he selected to admonish them, that the super-
fluity was not beyond their care, and that " the
fragments" were to be gathered with the same

»KK. 2. OF FIDELITY. 41

attention, which would have been necessary if
their subsistence had depended on them.

The situation in which it was delivered ren-
ders the admonition peculiarly pointed and im-
pressive. It is an admonition to men of even
rank, of the fidelity with which they are bound
to employ the gifts of providence, and of the so-
licitude with which they are required to guard
them from abuse and perversion.

It is an admonition to the rich : not against
the full enjoyment of the blessings which God
has bestowed on them, and which lie requires
them to use with gratitude and humility; but
against the habit of squandering, without judg-
ment and without thought, that which ought to
have been reserved for private comfort, or for
good works. It is an admonition against the os-
tentatious neglect of that which they do not use;
which not only is an insult offered to the po-
verty of other men, but indicates the utmost in-
sensibility of mind to the bounty of God. It
is an admonition against the improvident waste
of the provisions which are given for the sus-
tenance and comfort of human life; which pros-
perous men scarcely allow themselves to per-

4£ THE MINUTENESS SER. &.

ceive, amidst the superfluities which seem to
preclude the necessity of frugality or care; and
by which even their servants and dependents
are permitted to aggravate their perversion of
the gifts of God.

The frugality, which is a matter of necessity
to the poor, ought to be an object of impressive
duty among the rich, as-' faithful stewards of the
gifts of God, both for themselves and for their
brethren. Their wealth is allotted them for the
glory of God among men, that they may not
only have the means of private comfort, but be
able to send a supply to him who is in want,
or consolation to him who is pressed down by
calamities, or relief to him who has no friend :
And the superfluities which they possess, are
pledges from the God of providence, of the use-
fulness for which he shall require them to ac-
count, when " the small and the great" shall be
judged together.

No degree of wealth can therefore justify the
unprincipled waste or profusion of the rich, who
squander that which they cannot use; or the
thoughtless negligence by which they permit
their servants wantonly to scatter " the frag-

SER. 2. OF FIDELITY. 43

ments" of their abundance, which they ought to
preserve and to employ, as the precious gifts of
God " to him who needeth."

The sense of duty will instruct a good man
how he ought to guard from abuse the blessings
which are entrusted to him by the bounty of
heaven ; and, when they are beyond his own
wants, with how much conscientious and de-
liberate attention he ought to treasure up the
least portion " which remains" of them, for the
consolation of helpless men, anil for the glory of
God by them.

The admonition of the text is addressed to
those who serve, or who depend on the rich, as
well as to the rich themselves; to remind them,
that they are not permitted either to waste or to
squander that which is not their own; that
" the fragments" of every day's provisions are
committed to their trust; and that they are un-
der an indispensible obligation to manage them
with so much attention before God and man,
that nothing shall be either lost or destroyed, by
their negligence, by their profusion, or by their
dishonesty.

Every class of conscientious servants ought to

44 THE MINUTENESS SER. 2.

feel the impression of this admonition, whereso-
ever their master's goods are entrusted to them ;
in the house, and in the field ; when their mas-
ter's eye is on them, and when they have nothing
but their consciences to guard their fidelity. A
man's sense of duty, and the sincerity of his faith
in the gospel, are as exactly ascertained by his
reverence or by his neglect of a precept, such aa
the admonition of this text, as they can be
by almost any other test which it is possible to
apply to them. " He who is faithful in little^
is faithful also in much." " Servants," says the
apostle, " be obedient to them that are your
masters according to the flesh, in singleness of
your hearts, as unto Christ, not with eye-service
as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, do-
iae the will of God from the heart ; with good
will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to

men .

The spirit of the text may be applied to the
condition of the poor, as well as to the conscien-
ces of the rich; to teach the poor how to value,
and how to husband, the gifts of God, when their
wants are supplied ; to teach them how to esti-

* Ephes. vii 5. 6. 7-

MB. 2. OF FIDELITY". 46

mate " the fragments which remain," when they
have more than their need requires ; to teach
them moderation, as well as frugality, in the en-
joyment of whatsoever is given them ; to teach
them, that the blessing of heaven rests on " the
fragments'' of the poor — the blessing which comes
from him who i'cd the multitude in the wilderness,
and who so blessed the widow's " barrel of meal"
in the day of famine, and her " cruse of oil*,"
that they did not waste till the day of abundance
came.

He who has these impressions on his mind,
" gathers the fragments" of his scanty provision
as the precious pledges of the God of heaven,
that lie shall supply all his wants. While they
last, he gives thanks to God that he is not for-
saken ; and when they are exhausted, he com-
forts himself by reflecting, that nothing was
wasted, neglected, or lost, which the bounty of
heaven bestowed on him; and that he can trust
to the God of providence all that is to come.

The ingratitude, the waste, and the improvi-
dence, of the poor, add more to their guilt, than
even to their wretchedness, or to their poverty.

1. Kines xvii. l6.

46 THE MINUTENESS SER. 2.

But the poor, " who are rich in faith," are the
" heirs of promise.'* While " they gather their
fragments" as blessings from heaven, with faith
and humility, the kindness of providence will
not desert them, and " their eyes shall see the
salvation of God."

Let us take an example,

II. From " the fragments" of our time.

We are placed in this world in a state of pro*
bation for the world to come, which we are re-
quired to accomplish by means of the duties and
situations assigned us ; and the result of which
is to determine our condition for ever. The
consequences must be permanent; while the
time allotted us for probation is not only limited,
but, as far as our knowledge extends, perfectly
uncertain.

Every man, who feels the impression of these
facts on his mind, must be conscious, that it is
of the last importance that the time given him
for probation should be employed to the best ad-
vantage ; and that, if possible, it should not only
be fully occupied, but steadily and faithfully di-
rected to the duties on which so much is here-
after to depend.

SER. L2. OF FIDELITY. 47

Though religion is the great animating prin*
ciple of fidelity, the time of prohation is not to
be engrossed by the exercises of religion, or by
acts of devotion. These are but means leading
to the general ends in view. The portion of our
time which they require is no doubt of great
importance, to rivet on our minds the certainty
of the world to come, and our personal interest
in the doctrines of salvation by Christ ; to
bring home to our consciences, by renewed
and successive impressions, the considerations of
duty which ought to determine our con-duct ;
to prepare us, by means of the habitual awe
of God upon our minds, to meet the tempta-
tions of the world with firmness, to guard
us against " the sins which most easily beset
us ;" by the intimate knowledge of ourselves
which the continued exercises of religion en-
able us to possess j and to purify the motives
of our conduct, by means of the faith which
is strengthened and " sanctified by prayer."

The devotion which cultivates or strengthens
the influence of religion within the mind, has
an extensive effect on the occupations to which
our time ought to be chiefly directed ; and serves

45 THE MINUTENESS SEK. 2.

to support both our ardour and our fidelity in
applying to them : but it is equally plain, that
the acts of religion must ever be subordinate to
the habits which they are designed to promote
or to preserve.

The chief portions of our time must, of ne*
cessity, be given to the active business, and to
the essential duties, of human life ; to the use-
fulness for which either our talents or our situa-
tions have qualified us ; to the assistance which
we can give to other men, by supplying their
wants, or by relieving their infirmities, or by
promoting their comfort or salvation ; and to
the opportunities afforded us of glorifying God
in this world, by means of the industry and
labour which our personal duties, or our several
relations require.

To these indispensible objects of human life,
the chief part of our time ought certainly to be
devoted, whilst we keep our eyes fixed on the
result of our probation, and " wait for the Son
of God from heaven."

But it is a solemn consideration indeed, that
all that portion of our time, which is not direct-

SER. 2. OF FIDELITY". 49

ly or remotely subservient to such ends as these;
all that part of it, by which we do not sincerely
endeavour to promote the glory of God, and
our personal usefulness in the place assigned us,
or which is not subservient to our progress
in holiness, in fidelity to God, or in benevo-
lence to men ; is truly perverted from the ends
for which it was given us, and is to be set down,
in our deliberate reflections, as time irrecover-
ably lost.

There is a certain portion of our time, which
we necessarily require for relaxation from the
more serious or severe employments of life.
13ut it is most humbling to the best of us, to
consider dispassionately how much time is lost
in sloth, or spent in idleness ; how much we
might have reserved for duties, which has left
with us no memorial, but that it was spent in
vain : how much we have given to acknow-
ledged folly, or to trifles, or to vain-glory, or to
pride, or to envy, or to the useless pursuits or
the unhallowed strifes of the world, which wre
ought to have given to the labour, or to the ac-
tivity which our duties require, or to the good
works which we know to be within our sphere.

D

50 THE MINUTENESS SER. 2.

It is impossible, without deep regret, to consider
deliberately how much we might have done
more than we have ever been able to accom-
plish, if, without encroaching on the relaxations
we required, we had faithfully employed the
time we have lost, in our labours or in our ac-
tive pursuits, in the culture or in the discipline
of our own minds, in the occupations which
might have profited other men, or in the appli-
cation of our talents to our permanent interests.
If we turn our thoughts to this subject with se-
rious and undivided attention, we shall find good
reason to ascribe a great part of our deficiencies
in knowledge, in godliness, in good works, and
in substantial virtues, to the carelessness or to
the levity with which we have regarded " the
fragments" of time, or to the listless negli-
gence with which we have permitted them to
be lost. We perceive not how precious our
time has been, till we are deprived of the op-
portunities of employing it; nor, till it cannot
be recalled, do we perceive that the time which
we have deliberately squandered, leaves on the
conscience the guilt of neglecting all that which
ought to have been done, and the bitter reflec-

SER. 2. OF FIDELITY. 51

tion of having deservedly forfeited whatsoever
might have been attained.

It is impossible to calculate how much might
be done, by means of " the fragments" of time
which might be fairly saved from the sleep
which we do not require, from the sloth which
we indulge against our judgment, or from the
frivolous occupations which add nothing to our
happiness, and which are constantly encro idl-
ing both on our usefulness and on our duties.
The time which might be redeemed, from these
sources, by almost any individual man, if it were
faithfully and religiously employed for the busi-
ness of human life, and for the great pui-
poses to which our understandings and our ta-
lents ought to be applied, would add much more
than it is possible to state, both to the result of
his labours, and to their effects on the probation
appointed him. To a great multitude, it would
add at least an equal proportion to the time which
they can deliberately set down as employed for
useful purposes, or as having been spent in fulfil-
ling their ical duties. It would do much more to
som* individuals, whose time has never been

52 THE MINUTENESS SER. 2.

precious to them, and whose essential duties
have never been the chief objects of their solici-
tude.

But, what it is most important to consider, the
time which every one of us has it still in his
power to redeem, if it were faithfully employ-
ed, would be sufficient to lengthen the duration
of our active labours to more than twice their
usual term. Could we resolve, in earnest, to
employ to the best advantage the hours which
have hitherto passed unheeded or unoccupied ;
and to watch, with sedulous anxiety, the mo-
ments which we are conscious might be render-
ed substantially useful in the business of human
life; our activity would be extended far indeed
beyond the ordinary limits, and its effects be-
yond our most sanguine computations.

The imperfection of human nature does not
permit us to believe that this habit of the mind
is either easily or often attained. Unless it has
become strong indeed, by long and steady culti-
vation, it is certain that our vigour, both of bo-
dy and of mind, is exhausted much sooner than
our time. There are, however, a sufficient num-
ber of examples to convince us, how much

SEK. 2. OF FIDELITY. 53

might certainly be clone by means of" the frag-
ments" of time, if we were heartily disposed to
employ them. When we examine how much
beyond the ordinary rate of human attainments,
those liave done who seem to have best under-
stood the value of their time, we are astonish-
ed at the extent, and at the result of their la-
bours; we shrink within ourselves, as if we were
conscious that, when compared with them, we
have done scarcely any thing from our birth.

Even without such a comparison as this,
which it will be always useful to consider, if the
best of us shall deliberately examine their own
Jives, they will find so much of their time which
lias been lost, so much which has been squan-
dered, so much which ought to have been bet-
ter employed, and so much for which they can-
not answer to God or to themselves, that an ad-
monition to persuade them to redeem " the frag-
ments" of time, which are still in their power,
must come home to their consciences, as relat-
ing to the most impressive and most forcible
obligations.

How much time yet remains to any of us,
while we continue in this world, is known only

54 THE MINUTENESS SEIt. 2.

to God : But the imperfection of our personal
attainments, and our probation, which is still in-
complete, suggest a subject of the most awful con*
sideration. The least portion of time becomes
incalculably precious, from the uncertainty of
human life. He who may die to-morrow, has
not to-day an hour to neglect or to lose. He
who feels how much of his time has already
been squandered, and how much is yet to be
done within the narrow limits 6? his uncertain
life, in order to fulfil his essential duties, or " to
work out his salvation,'* can scarcely fail to re-
o-ard the time which remains to him, both as
the resource and the consolation of his heart.

If this should also be lost, nothing which he
has left undone can ever be repaired. On the
other hand, if God shall enable him to employ
the time to come better, more faithfully, more
earnestly, and more steadily, than he has em-
ployed that which he can never recal ; some-
thing, at least, he may still attain, which may
be accounted to him as gain, " when the Lord
shall come."

On this point I shall say nothing more, than
that he who shall learn to estimate " the frag-

SEtt. 2. OF FIDELITY. 55

ments" of time at their proper value in early
life, shall raise his head above his brethren from
youth to age ; and that even those who know
best the duties and the attainments of human
beings, cannot adopt a rule which, under God,
will render them more successful in both, or
more respectable through life, than that which
shall teach them to consider " the fragments" of
time as the objects of their uniform and sedu-
lous attention.

We cannot recover that which is spent ; but
every portion of our time to come is yet our
own. Whatever part of it we shall employ in
essential duties, or in labours really useful to
ourselves or to the world, will neither be spent
in vain, nor ever be remembered with regret.

Let us now take an example,

III. From " the fragments" of our private
comfort, or of our personal advantages.

The advantages by which we are required to
fulfil our personal obligations in this world, are
not only bestowed on us in very unequal pro-
portions, but are destined to remain in our pos-
session for very different periods. One man's
prosperity is continued to the end of his life;

56 THE MINUTENESS $ER. 2.

or, at least, Ire experiences no events which make
any striking or sensible encroachment either on
the prosperity of his external condition, or on his
private comfort. But another man's satisfactions
are interrupted in the midst of his enjoyment of
them. They may be withdrawn from him by
means of events of which he was least aware,
and for which he Was not prepared. He may
lose his prosperity early, by the death, by the
calamities, or by the misconduct of those on
whom he depended. Even the advantages of
religion may be diminished by events, or we
may be deprived of the benefit or of the com*
fort of them, by circumstances which change
our external situations, or render us incapable of
enjoying them.

It must be evident, that in accounting to God
for our conduct, we have to answer for the full
extent and duration of the advantages we have
been permitted to possess ; and that he who has
glorified God when his cup was full, by a faith-
ful application and improvement of blessings
which he has long enjoyed, shall shine at last
among the purest of faithful men.

But it is of great importance to consider, that

sl.U. 2. OF FIDELITV* 57

our obligations are not destroyed, when our per-
sonal advantages are diminished or are with-
drawn ; and that an account shall be as strictly
required of the least portion of them which re-
mains to us, as could have been demanded, if
we had been permitted to continue to the end
of our Fives in the full possession of them.

Men are extremely apt to think themselves
absolved from obligations, which they have not
the same means of fulfilling which they once
possessed ; and even to imagine, that they are
entitled to indulge a chagrin, which equally de-
:> troys their happiness, and disqualifies them for
their active duties, from the regret with which
they look back on satisfactions or advantages of
which the providence of God has deprived them.
" My personal comfort in this world is at an
end,'' will the desponding spirit sometimes say;
" for that on which it chiefly depended is taken
away for ever. My duties are no more the
same ; for, besides the change of circumstances
which has turned them into a new channel, that
which chiefly supported me in applying to them
exists no longer. I have lost the spring from
which I derived my ardour, in the domestic or

58 THE MINUTENESS SER. 2.

in the personal comforts, of which the irresisti-
ble decrees of providence have deprived me. If
I have consolations, they are not for this world •
and I have no longer any thing to induce me to
mix with active men."

Language such as this is more frequently the
effect of the disappointment or disgust which the
spirit of the world produces, than of the faith or
resignation which we ought to learn from leli*
gion. Heavy afflictions, which deprive us of
the objects of our confidence or affection, which
come upon us suddenly, or which essentially
derange our private habits, are certainly hard to
bear. It requires both length of time and a
strong faith in God, to teach us the submission
which it is our duty to acquire.

But there are few events, indeed, which can
deprive men of all their comfort, or which can
remove them from the sphere, or from the obli-
gation of their personal duties. There are fewer
still, which can entitle them to make death their
object, or to set bounds to the probation assign-
ed them. If they once enjoyed a large propor-
tion of personal or of domestic satisfactions, is it
gratitude to God to desert his service, or to sink

SER. 2. OF FIDELITY. 5$

into despondency, because his sovereign will
lias taken away that which they were long per-
mitted to possess? "Was their fidelity at all pro-
portioned to the advantages which they en-
joyed, while they were yet in their possession?
Of do they not feel how little they have done
in comparison with what was certainly in their
power? And must they not then be conscious of
the activity with which they are bound to " fill
up that which has been wanting'" in their ser-
vice, in proportion to the means which are still
in their hands? If they consider how much
they ought to have attained, while they had
every advantage to assist and to animate them;
shall it be a subject of chagrin or of despair, that
God has changed their lot, or diminished their
personal comforts, or varied or narrowed their
sphere of duty ? Or shall they feel themselves at
liberty to disregard the admonition of provi-
dence, " to gather up the fragments which re-
main?"

There is scarcely any situation in human life,
in which there are not many comforts remain-
ing, whatever the blessings are, which have
been taken away. This is an unquestionable

60 THE MINUTENESS S£R. 2.

fact, though we were not to consider the cases,
in which providence compensates, by subsequent
events, the heaviest calamities which we can ex-
perience. We may have lost what we valued
as our best advantages, and may regret them
with a degree of tenderness which supposes that
their place cannot soon be supplied. We may
have nothing more than " the fragments" of
our most precious blessings, which were once
entire. But it is possible that, by the grace of
God, the faith which is purified by sorrow,
may enable us to make more of i* the frag-
ments" than we were able to attain by the full
extent of our advantages. We are not to sink
into despondency, whilst we are still permitted
to enjoy many blessings, for which we give
thanks to God : Whilst in the use of them, there
is still a duty which we feel to be binding on
us, a good work which we have still the oppor-
tunity of fulfilling, a service which we can still
perform to those around us, or a good example,
which the blessings which we still possess can
enable us to shew them ; or it] whilst " we suf-
fer affliction by the will of God," there is still a
friend who helps our infirmities, whose face we

SEK. 2. OF FIDELITY. 61

can cheer by our gratitude, or by our sympathy,
or by our patience, or by our trust in God.

If we are still capable of activity and of ac-
tive duties, no deprivation of past satisfactions
will justify our inactivity. Much less can it
entitle us to indulge the despondency, which
looks only to the grave. On the other hand, if
we shall estimate at their true value " the frag-
ments which remain" to us of private or person-
al comfort, and shall use them faithfully, as
the means of fulfilling the duties which we are
not permitted to relinquish, they will grow or
will be multiplied in our possession by the in-
fluence of God. If we shall persevere till we
reap the result of them, one satisfaction will be
added to another, and God may be pleased " to
bless our latter end," like Job's, even more than
the happiest part of our past time.

No man can have a right to reject the advan-
tages which are left with him, or to relinquish
the duties which he can still fulfil, on account
of the blessings which have been taken away.
We may have good reason to regret that which
we no longer possess. But as long as our pro-
bation lasts, much will remain after all that we

6<2 THE MINUTENESS SER. 2.

can lose, which we are bound both to value,
and to employ for discharging our indispensible
duties.

If the providence of God were to deprive us
even of the advantages which we receive by
the institutions of religion ; or if they were to b.e
sensibly diminished or impaired by circumstances
over which we could have no influence or con-
troul ; it would still be our duty to employ, with
the earnestness which our best interests demand,
the knowledge which we had already acquired,
the help of faithful men around us, the word of
God (if we were still permitted to read it for
ourselves), and " the prayer of faith" at " the
throne of grace."

Those who could, in such a case, neglect what
they still possessed, on account of that which the
providence of God had put beyond their reach,
would incur a heavy condemnation indeed ;
whilst those who " gathered up the fragments
which remained" to them, " would flourish" still,
like " plants in the house of God f " the Spirit
of Christ helping their infirmities," and " supply-
ing all their need."

SER. 2. OF FIDELITY. 6$

In whatever department we are destined to
act, we must be conscious that our duties are in
exact proportion to our talents. Our obligations
cannot be diminished, while our personal com-
forts and capacities are still entire. And even
when our advantages are impaired by events, we
are still indispensibly bound to cultivate the full
extent of the advantages which remain to us ;
that nothing may be lost which they ought to
be the means of attaining; and that our fidelity
may be equally complete, whether our talents
are many or few.

As the last example which I shall mention, I
direct your attention,

IV. To " the fragments" of our health or of
our vigour.

Every man of understanding acknowledges
our obligation to apply our talents to the busi-
ness of human life, or to the ends of our proba-
tion for the world to come, as long as we are
capable of exercising them. It is impossible se-
riously to doubt that our personal duties must be
indispensible, as long as we have the -means of
fulfilling them.

But when the doctrine is applied to practice,

64 THE MINUTENESS SER. 2.

we are apt to take very different views of the
subject. Though it is a truth fully established
by experience, that it is best for every man, in
the present life, and most for his advantage as
an immortal being, to persevere in the active
duties of his condition, as long as it is possible
for him to discharge them ; there is nothing
which men more generally allow to dwell on
their thoughts through life, than the idea, that
a time shall come, long before they die, when
they shall be able to relinquish their usual or
professional occupations, and to spend the rest
of their time, without labour or exertion, in the
enjoyment of their private or domestic situa-
tions. Few in comparison are ever permitted
to realise an idea, which so many allow to oc-
cupy their imaginations. Of those who are
enabled to relinquish their labours, if their lives
are prolonged, the greater part have reason to
repent what they have done. By the change
produced on their habits, and by want of use,
their faculties are gradually impaired, as the
sources of their activity are diminished; and
they meet with chagrin and disappointment,

SSR. 2. OF FIDELITY. 65

where they expected to have found nothing hut
satisfaction or tranquillity.

I do not say that those who have retired from
the hustle of affairs cannot employ, and employ
faithfully, " the fragments" both of their health
and of their vigour. They have certainly much
in their power, if they consecrate their leisure
to real duties, and keep their talents occupied
as they ought to be ; much which relates to
the discipline of their own minds ; much which
can be done in domestic life, for the advantage
of the old or of the young, to whom they can
i;ive their attention or their time; much by
which they can be useful to those whose charac-
ters they can influence, whose hands they can
strengthen ; whom they can assist in their diffi-
culties, or comfort in their sickness, or furnish
with the means either of prosperity or of reli-

gion.

Those who apply the decline of life to such
purposes as these, do not retire in vain from the
bustle of the world. If they embrace heartily
the opportunities of usefulness which they still
possess, nothing is lost which they are capable
of attaining. That which they do in secret for

£

66 THE MINUTENESS SER. 2.

the glory of God, or for the advantage of their
fellow mortals, is sanctified by the prayer of
faith, and shall be accounted to them as good
service, in " the day of Christ."

But though I say this, I have no hesitation to
add, that those who abide by their active oc-
cupations from a sense of duty, and who em-
ploy the last portion of their talents where they
spent their vigour, have much better reason to ex-
pect, that both their usefulness and their personal
comfort shall be continued as long as they live.

No good man's conscience will suggest to
him that he ought to become weary of his la-
bours. He who delights in the service on
which his duty or his usefulness depends, can
have no wish to relinquish it. He is anxious
to persevere in the duties which he can in any
degree accomplish, even when he is conscious
of his decline. He looks up to God, to whom
he thinks he shall soon return ; and though he
knows that his summons to die cannot be dis-
tant, it continues to be the first wish of his heart,
that he may be found employing the last por-
tions of his health and life, in the duties of his
proper place.

Sgft. 2. OF FIDELITY. 67

A man who is able to preserve this happy
temper of mind to the end, lias a far better pros-
pect, than other habits could afford him, of pos-
sessing the vigour of his faculties to his last
hour; and therefore of extending his labours
and his usefulness far beyond the ordinary term
of human activity. He hears the voice of his
master, urging his duties and his fidelity on his
conscience, till his strength is gone : And he
does not lose the impression of it, till the last
spark of life expires.

There are not, perhaps, many living examples
to which all this description can be literally ap-
plied ; but some individuals there certainly are,
within our own knowledge, to whom it may
be applied without any exaggeration. He who
lives, or who endeavours to live, in those
habits of personal activity and exertion, in
the decline of life, and who dies at last in
faith and patience, may well adopt the language
of the apostle of the Gentiles, " I have fought
a good light, I have finished my course, I have
kept the faith. Henceforth is laid up for me a
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the

e 2

68 THE JIINUTKNESS SLR. 2.

righteous judge, will give to me; and not to me
only, but to all them who love his appearing."

What a reproach is the idea of such a life, to
the indolent, the careless, the useless characters
which we find around us ! What a reproach
even to " men professing godliness," who allow
themselves deliberately to prefer their pleasures
or their ease, to the fidelity which depends on
active labours, or to the usefulness which they
have the means of supporting to the end of their
lives.

What an admonition do the considerations
which I have represented suggest to every one
of us! They relate to some of the most im-
portant obligations which can be brought home
to the consciences of men. The period allotted
us for active duties is as uncertain as it is short.
Much is yet to be done to render our fideli-
ty complete, whether our talents have been cul-
tivated or neglected, and how much soever they
have been diminished by time. We cannot know
how much remains to us of our time, or of our com-
fort, or of our talents, or of our health. We de-
pend entirely and absolutely on the will of God.
But we know who hath said, " Your heavenly

SER. 2. OF FIDELITY. 69

father will give the holy Spirit to them who ask
him *." " Our labour in the Lord," be it greater
or less, " shall not be in vain." " In due time
ue shall reap, if we faint not:" And we are
certain, that " he who endureth to the end shall
be saved."

* Luke, xi. 13.

SERMON III.

ON

SELF-DENIAL.

LUKE ix. 23.

.. Jesus said to them all, if «»* «» *>* c°™

after me, let him deny himself"

This text represents the habits of self-denial
as forming one of the leading features in the
personal characters of the disciples of Christ. It
describes " the discipline" which we ought to ap-
ply to our own minds; and which, in the pre-
sent corrupt state of human nature, is insepar-
able from our progress in any department of onr
private duties. Our Lord says explicitly to us
all, and he says it without qualification or restr.c-

SER. 3. SELF-DENIAL. 71

tions, u If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself."

We are not to suppose, from the language of
the text, that practical religion subjects us to a
degree of self-denial, which no other interest or
pursuit requires. Christianity is far from enjoin-
ing us to renounce those enjoyments of this life,
which are not inconsistent with our duties, or
which do not prevent us from fulfilling them;
nor did our Lord intend, by the admonition of
the text, to recommend the practice of personal
austerities, which have no connexion with real
obligations, or no direct tendency to preserve
their influence on our minds. Those who hold
this language have departed widely from the spi-
rit of our Lord's instructions, " teaching for doc-
trines the commandments of men." The aus-
terity by which men deny themselves the com-
forts of life, or endanger their health, or torment
their bodies, in the name of religion, is one of
the most hurtful perversions of religious prin-
ciple, which has ever been imposed on the cre-
dulity of the world. It can produce no advan-
tage to individuals, and is pernicious, in the
highest degree, to the moral principles, and to

72 SELF-DENIAL, SER. 3.

the general interests, of mankind. The good
sense which runs through every precept of the
gospel, excludes the supposition, that any thing-
is to be done as duty to God, which has no pre-
cise or specific end, which is not of real impor-
tance by itself, or which does not belong to the
efficient means by which our obligations are to
be fulfilled.

Though Christianity is excellently adapted to
the conditions of mankind, it is not without
self-denial that men bring themselves either to
rely on its (doctrines, or to submit to its authori-
ty. It is a subject as much of experience as of
theory, that there is in human nature an origi-
nal aversion* to religion, to religious duties, to
religious restraints, to the salvation which de-
pends on religion, to the idea of salvation " by
the cross of Christ." He who is conscious of
his depravity, thinks not so much with fear as
with indignation of " the righteous judgment of
God :" And though, while he remains in this
state of mind, his better reflections ought to give
him many alarms with regard to his future con-

* Rom. v. 10.

SEK. 3. SELF-DENIAL. 73

cHtion, and will, besides, sometimes represent
Christianity in a more favourable light; the
pride of his heart steadily resists the authority
which is opposed to his predominant inclina-
tions, as well as the means of salvation, to which
he finds it impossible to reconcile them*.

It will not therefore surprise us, that a cordial
and settled acquiescence in the authority of
religion should be represented as requiring a
self-denial, which reaches a man's general habits
of thinking as well as his course of life; or that
the gospel should frequently and solemnly af-
firm, that " if any man be in Christ he is a new
creature;" that, with regard to the general
temper of his mind, " old things are passed
away,"' and " all things are become new f;" that
he is " the workmanship of God, created in
Christ Jesns unto good works;!;;" and that " he
hath passed from death unto life jj." We shall
be prepared to enter into the full meaning and
spirit of the language which the New Testament

* Rom. viii. 7. f <2 Cor. i. 17.

I Ephes. ii. 10. 1' 1 John iii. 14.

74 SELF-DENIAL. SER. 3.

employs on this subject, when we shall have learnt
from experience to consider practical Christianity,
from its commencement in the mind of man, to
its consummation in the kingdom of heaven, as
a system of salutary discipline, adapted by the
wisdom of God to the circnmstances of human
life, and to the condition of human nature.

But I am at present to confine myself to the
more minute illustrations of the doctrine of the
text, and to consider self-denial in common si-
tuations, as it ought to appear in the personal
conduct of those, who profess to embrace Chris-
tianity, and to abide by the rules which they
find in the gospel.

It is impossible not to admit, that in order
tl to deny ourselves," according to the spirit of
our Lord's injunction, we must be bound to
subdue our inclinations, in every instance in
which they would lead us into any thing which
Christianity condemns, or which is unfavour-
able to our fidelity in Christian duties; and to
submit, besides, to every degree of activity and
patience, which the particular duties, or the ge-
neral ends, of Christianity require.

SER. 3. SELF-DENIAL. 75

It is this simple view of the subject which I
propose to illustrate.

I select a few examples, which every man
may bring home to the state of his own mind ;
and I direct your attention,

I. To the self-denial requisite in fulfilling the
duties, to which we feel that we are least in-
clined.

It is no uncommon attempt, even among
those who consider themselves as sound believ-
ers, to adopt Christianity in parts, selecting for
practice the duties which are most agreeable to
them, and disregarding those which are resisted
by the strong propensities of the heart.

There are duties which every man can ful-
fil, without doing any considerable violence
to his natural temper. He whose heart is
naturally generous and kind, does not hesitate
" to do good, and to communicate f to be useful
to his friends, or beneficent to the poor ; to as-
sist the helpless, or to have compassion on the
dying: And because the good works, which his
dispositions lead him to perform, are speciallv
enjoined by our Lord, he is too apt to estimate
his character by his ardour in applying to them.

7-5 SELF-DENIAL. SER. 3.

They would certainly be a legitimate proof
of his sincerity in the faith of the gospel, if his
predominant motives were pure, and if he were
equally faithful in the other departments of his
personal duty. But among* men living in the
world, it is no uncommon error, to mistake
their natural temper for their sense of duty, and
to suppose, besides, that the acts of beneficence
will compensate their want of fidelity in other
things. It happens not less frequently, that
they trample on justice, or temperance, or the
fear of God, and believe, notwithstanding, that
all is well, or that they are not deficient in their
essential duties, because they abound in the
works of mercy.

Those are not nearer the truth, in judging of
themselves, who profess to be industrious, and
just, and faithful in the business of this world;
but who place every virtue in the industry, the
justice, or the fidelity which the world requires ;
and allow themselves to live in the habitual and
deliberate neglect of the discipline of their own
minds, of the acts of devotion, and of " faith
which worketh by love."

There is another order of men, whose views

SKU. 3. SELF-DENIAL. 77

of religion ill practice arc limited to their strict
observation of religious rites, to the attention
which they bestow on the doctrines of religion,

to the ardour with which they contend tor the
purity of the faith, and to the external decency
of manners which they preserve; and who do
not lose their own esteem as religious men,
though they deliberately neglect M the weighty
matters of the law," justice, mercy, and truth.

These different characters represent to us the
self-deceit, by which men persuade themselves,
that they may be faithful to the profession of
Christianity, without submitting to the self-denial
which Christ enjoins. They would compensate,
by their earnestness in some departments of duty,
their want of fidelity in others ; and it is impossi-
ble not to perceive, that the duties which they
neglect are precisely those, to which they are
under the strongest obligations to apply. They
are those which are chiefly resisted by their pre-
dominant propensities; and are, for this reason,
the chief duties by which they can prove their
personal fidelity, or effectually " worktout their
own salvation." " Strait is the gate," said our
Lord, " and narrow is the way, which leadcth

78 8ELF-DEXIAL. SER. 3.

unto life, and few there be that find it*."
" Strive to enter in at the strait gate ; for many,
I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall
not be ablef."

It is obvious, that there cannot be much per-
sonal virtue, and that there is no self-denial, in
good works, which neither contradict our pe-
culiar tempers, nor make any sensible encroach-
ment on our interest in the present life. It is
self-denial, in the sense of the text, to apply
steadily and earnestly to duties to which we
have strong inclinations opposed, because we are
conscious of their indispensible obligation. It
is self-denial to persevere in them, when we
have both a severe and a continued struggle to
maintain with ourselves; because we believe,
" that unto every one that hath shall be given $,"
and that habit and practice, " sanctified by the
Holy Ghost j|," and " by prayer §," will at last
reconcile our minds to them. It is the self-de-
nial enjoined by our Lord, to make our con-
sciences the measure and the rule of our con-

* Matthew vii. 14. f Luke xiii. 24.

t Matthew xxv. 2f). [j Rom. xv. l(x,

§ 1 Tim. iv. 5.

SER. 3. SELF-DENIAL, 79

duct ; and to sacrifice our private inclinations,
in every instance, to our sense of duty, or to our
deliberate conviction of what we are bound to
do or to shun.

The most faithful men will sometimes be sen-
sible, that there are certain duties which they
are apt to contemplate with reluctance, or winch
they cannot fulfil without sacrificing either their
wishes, or their apparent interests in this world.
The self-denial of the gospel supposes them to
be even more ardent or solicitous to discharge
with fidelity these difficult duties, than those
which are easier in practice, or which are less
contrary to their natural inclinations. Christia-
nity requires them " to esteem all God's com-
mandments, concerning all things, to be right;"
but it specially enjoins them to be prepared to
make every personal sacrifice, which can be re-
quisite, in any circumstances, to render their fi-
delity complete, or to give them the testimony
of their own minds, that " they have pleased
God." " He that loveth father or mother more
than me," said our Lord, " is not worthy of me ;
and he that loveth son or daughter more than
me, is not worthy of me; and he that taketh

80 SELF-DENIAL. SER. 3,

not his cross and followeth after me, is not wor-
thy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it ;
and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find
it *." This doctrine, laid down by our Lord, re-
ceived a most striking illustration from the con-
duct of the apostle Paul, in a situation in which
every private affection gave way to an intrepid
adherence to his personal duty. It cannot be
represented in more impressive words than those
in which he addressed the elders of the church
of Ephesus: u And now behold, I go bound in
the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the
things which shall befal me there; save that
the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying,
that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none
of these things move me, neither count I my
life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my
course with joy, and the ministry which I have
received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel
of the grace of God If."

The self-denial which our Lord enjoins, con-
sists in the firm and habitual resolution of the
mind, by which his disciples are determined to

* Matthew x. 37. 3S. 59. + Acts sx. 22. 23. 24.

SER. 3. SELF-DENI.W. 81

subdue every private inclination inconsistent
with their fidelity to him, and to apply steadily
to every department ot* their personal duties, ac-
cording to their best conviction of their obli-
gation. " He that is faithful in that which is
least, is faithful also in much*," A good man
feels, besides, that he must be perpetually on his
guard against every species of self-deceit, which
would tempt him to prefer the easy to the dif-
ficult service; which would lead him to mis-
take the conduct to which his inclinations prompt
him, for that which he ought to do; or which
would conceal from his view his neglect of
known and essential duties.

Following this doctrine a step farther, I direct
you,

II. To the self-denial necessary in renouncing
" the sins which most easily beset us f."

Religion certainly requires, that we shall de-
ny ourselves to even thing, which we have any
leasou tq suppose will operate on our minds as
a temptation to sin. It commands us to reject
the pleasures and advantages of this life in cve-

* Lttkc xvi. 10. | Ilcb. xii. 1.

82 SELF-DENIAL. SER. 3.

ry instance, in which they would influence or
entice us to violate our indispensible duties.

But the self-denial, which is of most import-
ance to every individual man, is evidently that by
which he ought to resist his strongest tempta-
tions; those temptations which are in a peculiar
manner adapted to the inclinations of his heart, or
to his ruling passions ; from which he has most
danger to apprehend, and which it requires the
greatest vigilance to avoid, or the greatest
strength of resolution to overcome.

This is a branch of self-denial to which men
will ever be most unwilling to direct their ef-
forts. Self-deceit is never more agreeable to
us, and is never more successful in perverting
our conduct, than when it either represents the
sins to which we are most inclined in a fa-
vourable light, as offences which may be soon
compensated, or leads us to consider the strug-
gle against them as an unnecessary severity
which religion does not strictly enjoin, or as a
useless encroachment on satisfactions, which we
are unwilling to relinquish. Men persist in
sins which gratify their private inclinations, and
persuade themselves, that their fidelity, or their

SER. 3. SELF-PENIAL. 83

self-denial in other points, will outweigh this cir-
cumstance when their characters shall be tried.

On the other hand, they are not entirely
ignorant of the deception which they practise
on their own minds ; and are far from being
able to reconcile their consciences to their con-
duct. They have a consciousness of their
guilt, even at the moment when they are la-
bouring to palliate, or to disguise it; and it fre-
quently happens that, in opposition to their
practice, they are compelled to form strong and
repeated resolutions to renounce the pursuits,
from which they find' it impossible to separate
the impressions of guilt. But neither their con-
victions nor their best resolutions avail them,
when their peculiar temptations return. The
present temptations are always as fascinating and
as irresistible as those which preceded them.
The struggle with themselves becomes gradually
less. As they advance in life, their habits are con-
firmed ; and till they are so, the sins, into which
they are successively betrayed, meet every day
with less resistance from the temper of their
minds.

It would be easy to specify minute examples

84 SELF-DENIAL. SER. 3.

in the conduct of individual men ; from the
sensual vices of excess, or of intemperance, from
the effects of violent or of strong passions, from
the arts of deceit or of malignity, from the
pursuits of avarice or of ambition. It is diffi-
cult to persuade men to practise an efficient
self-denial in any one of these instances, against
the sins which they permit to be gradually in-
terwoven with their pursuits in the world, or
with the character of their minds. It is more
difficult still to convince them, that without this
self-denial, or without an earnest and habitual
solicitude to subdue every inclination to the sins
to which they have peculiar temptations, they
cannot be the disciples of Christ.

But, it is not necessary to mention examples :
for every man, who attends to the state of his
own mind, knows minutely the sins, with re-
gard to which he feels himself least disposed to
practise self-denial ; the sins into which he is
most frequently betrayed, contrary to his delibe-
rate convictions of duty, and in opposition to
his best resolutions. He knows, with how
much industry he labours to reconcile his
conscience to his peculiar vices ; and how often

SEli. 3. SELF-DENIAL. 85

he endeavours to persuade himself, that if he
shall only praetise self-denial in other points, his
want of it in these instances will not he ulti-
ma ttly charged to his account.

I heseech those, who are conscious that this
is truly their state of mind, to consider delibe-
rately what our Lord has said to them all : " If
any man will come after me, let him deny him-
self." Did he mean that we are only to prac-
tise self-denial in the cases in which we have no
strong inclinations to subdue? Or did he intend
to say, that self-denial, in other instances, would
be a sufficient test of our fidelity to him, al-
though we should allow ourselves the indulgence
of " the sins which most easily beset us?" Let
us read what he has expressly said, to ascertain
his meaning precisely. " If thy right eye of-
fend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee ;
for it is profitable for thee, that one of thy mem-
bers should perish, and not that thy whole body
should be cast into hell. And if thy right
hand oftend thee, cut it off, and cast it from
thee; for it is profitable for thee, that one-of thy
members should perish, and not that thy whole

86 SELF-DENIAL. SER. 3.

body should be cast into hell*." The self-de-
nial which our Lord urges on our consciences, is
self-denial in the situations in which it is most
difficult to practise it ; because these ire the si-
tuations in which it is of most importance to the
purity and to the fidelity of his disciples. It is
self-denial with regard to the sins which either
are already, or which are in danger of becom-
ing our predominant habits; a discipline adapt-
ed to the condition of human nature, to which
every man is required to subject himself, Who
" would save his soul rrom death," or from the
" multitude of sins.*

This part of the doctrine chiefly relates to
those who do not habitually feel " the powers
of the world to come," or who do not heartily
acquiesce in the authority of religion. But it
brings home a strong admonition to better men,
who are sensible of the infirmities, which ad-
here to them during all the course of their pro-
bation, " lest any of them be hardened through
the deceitfulness of sinf." It requires a perpe-
tual discipline, or self-denial, to the end of our
lives, to be able to resist effectually " the sins

* Matth. v. 99- 30, f Hcb. iii. 13-

SER. 3. SELF-DENIAL. 8?

which most easily beset us." If we have grace
to persevere in it, " we know that our labour
is not in vain in the Lord*." We are certain of
strength above our own to meet both our temp-
tations and our infirmities, so as to assure us of
Ultimate success. We shall never regret either
the struggles or the sacrifices to which our fide-
lity subjects us; and the victory over ourselves,
be it in articles greater or less, will be a source
of permanent satisfaction, beyond all that wc
can receive from the pleasures of this world.

On the other hand, we are certain that, " if
any man will not deny himself" in such situa-
tions as those which I have represented, no de-
gree of austerity in other points can at all avail
him. His deficiency in the selr-command
which Christianity enjoins, will be as ruinous to
his happiness in the present life, as it is fatal to
his interests in the world to come.

It was necessary, on this subject, to direct
your first attention to essential duties, and to po-
sitive sins. But there are other articles to which
the self-denial of the text extends, and in which

! I Cor. xv. 58.

.;

88 SELF-DENIAL* SEIi.

we must learn to practise it, if we are in earnest
to preserve the purity, or the spirit of vital re-
ligion. And, therefore, I request your atten-
tion,

III. To the self-denial requisite with regard
to every thing which is, either in itself, or by its
consequences, unfavourable to our progress in
practical religion.

Though we should not be perverted from our
essential duties, there are perpetual obstructions
to our progress in religion, arising from the pre-
sent condition of human life. It is impossible
not to perceive, that to guard ourselves effectu-
ally from the pollutions of the world, and to
preserve to religion such a power over our af-
fections, as is essential to its influence on our
conduct, we are under an indispensible obliga-
tion to relinquish and to avoid many things,
which are by themselves no direct violations
of our positive obligations; but which we know
from txperience to have a tendency to betray
us into sins, or to render us unfit for dischar-
ging our personal duties, or to deprive us of the
means by which our duties ought to be fulfilled.

I shall mention a few examples to illustrate

SfcH. 3. -i I F-DKMAU 89

tliis assertion; though ever) individual man is
best qualified to suggest the illustrations of it

which arc of most importance' to himself, from

liis intimate knowledge of his own life.

i begin with bo example, of which tlio^c only
will feel the force, who believe that religion ought
to predominate in all our conduct, and that its
influence may be often injured, when there is
no settled design to disavow its obligations.

Men of strong animal spirits, who have that
kind of intercourse with the world which if suit-
ed to their peculiar temper, must be conscious
of the errors into which their love of gaiety
often betrays them, of the dangerous situa-
tions to which it introduces them, of the temp-
tations for which it prepares them, and of its
perpetual tendency to dissipate and interrupt the
serious or deliberate reflections, which are es-
sential to the Btedfastness, and to the uniform te-
nor of all good conduct.

If they have ever experienced any considera-
ble impressions of religion, they are too often led
on from one indulgence to another, unfriendly to
their progress in practical duties, till the influ-
ence of religion on their minds becomes at last

90 SELF-DENIAL. SER. $.

so weak, as to be incapable of resisting any strong-
temptation. Their original temper, and the so-
ciety in which they live, betray them into so
many things in succession which Christianity
condemns, that they find it necessary at last to
relieve themselves from their own reproach, by
endeavouring to reconcile their consciences to
their conduct. They overcome one religious
restraint after another ; and though they are far
from being satisfied with themselves, their ani-
mal spirits support them, even after they have
lost their internal tranquillity.

It is certain that religion does not require us
to relinquish the gaiety of temper, in which one
man so often surpasses another, and which so
Well enables those who possess it in a superior
degree, both to enjoy and to embellish the con-
ditions of this life. On the contrary, the religion
which is pure affords us better reasons to be
chearful, than can be derived from any other
source, and to enjoy the society of chearful
men.

But, on the other hand, religion prescribes to
us that kind of self-denial which sets a watch
around the heart and mind against the tempta-

Si.R. 3. SEI.F-DENIAT.. 91

tions, of which this general temper so often be-
comes the instrument. Wl are under an indis-
pensible obligation to restrain ourselves, when
we are sensible that our love of gaiety would
lead us farther than we ought to go; when it
is in danger of connecting us with those whose
society we ought not to cultivate ; when it
would bring us into an intercourse with the
world inconsistent with our essential duties;
when we perceive that it encroaches on the
habits whieh we have learnt from the gospel;
or when, by dissipating our minds, it is in dan-
ger of withdrawing us from the discipline, or
disqualifying us for the duties, of religion.

Those who are governed more by inclination
than- by principle, are seldom disposed to allow
the danger of an indulgence, from which they
receive much private satisfaction. Because that
which they are admonished to avoid is not posi-
tively unlawful, and becomes pernicious only
from its excess or from its consequences, they
defend their practice by denying that their gaiety
is carried to excess, and are not willing in the
mean time to examine its moral effects mi-
nutely.

92 SELF-DENIAI. SER. 3.

On this point it is sufficient to say, that both
the excess and the effects may be safely appeal-
ed to their own consciences, and to their deli-
berate reflections. It is impossible to deny, that
every man " professing godliness" is as really
under an obligation to relinquish that which he
has found from experience to be pernicious to
the general influence of religion on his mind, or
to his fidelity in particular duties; or which he
knows to have exposed him to dangerous temp-
tations ; as he can be bound to practise self-
denial in any other instance which can be men-
tioned. We may disguise the matter to our-
selves as long as the strength of our animal
spirits is entire. But there is a time approach-
ing, when the sentence we shall pronounce on
our conduct will be equally dispassionate and
just. Our habits in the present life, and the in-
nocence or the danger which ought to be as-
cribed to them, will then he estimated by their
inseparable connexion with our final condition
as immortal beings. There is a striking admoni-
tion given by the apostle Paul, which ought not
to be read without the most solemn attention*
"Brethren, the time is short; — it remaineth —

SEU. 3. SELF-DENIAL. 93

that they who rejoice be as though they rejoi-
ced not ; — for the fashion of this world passeth
away *."

Another example may he taken from the cha-
racter of those whose natural temper is ardent
or sanguine, who must have more occasion than
cooler men for the exercise of self-denial.

This peculiarity of temper is in itself neither
a vice nor a defect ; but, on the contrary, if it
is restrained within the limits of duty, may be
made subservient to the most important pur-
poses in human conduct. It renders men of
principle the most active, the most useful, the
most faithful members of the societies to which
they belong, and of the church of Cod. Their
natural ardour, chastened by principle and re-
strained by habit, exerts itself where it has full
scope, for the glory of God, for the advantage
of human life, and for the various ends and
duties on which either their usefulness or their
fidelity depends.

But the same general character, when it is
kept under no effectual restraint, involves quali-
ties of the most pernicious kind. Of this truth,

■ 1 Cor. vii. 20. 30. 31.

g£ SELF-DENIAL. SER. 3.

those to whom the character belongs, have al-
most universally the same experience. The heat
of their temper, the violence of their passions^
and even the ardour of their good affections,
excited by frequent temptations, and indulged
without restraint, not only bring them into si-
tuations in which they act in opposition to their
most deliberate intentions, but, as they advance
in life, render the impulse of the moment too
often sufficient to overwhelm the most powerful
considerations both of duty and of religion.

Men allow themselves to believe that as long
as their sanguine character has led them into
nothing habitual, in contradiction to the posi-
tive law of the gospel, they have no reason to
condemn themselves with severity. They do
not consider, that every disposition of the hu-
man heart, which is permanently indulged be-
yond its due measure, operates as an effectual
obstruction to the spirit of religion ; and that
the influence of strong passions, which are nei-
ther watched nor restrained, has a gradual pro-
gress in the characters of mankind, extending
itself insensibly, from single violations of duty

:: •'». 3. SELF-DKNIAU 95

to general manners, and from early infirmities
to confirmed habits.

The self-command which enables a Christian
to restrain the natural impetuosity of his mind,
so as to render it uniformly or habitually sub-
servient to his personal duties, is certainly a
great attainment. But without it, religion main-
tains no decided influence on human conduct ;
and though the best of us possess it ill very dif-
ferent degrees, all our perseverance in it is ac-
companied with a proportional progress in the
spirit of religion, aud with an inward satisfac-
tion which more than rewards us for every
struggle which it requires.

The varieties in our tempers and situations,
produce a proportional variety in the objects
of our selfrdenial. The restraint which is essen-
tial to the progress of religion in one man's mind,
does not relate to the points in which self-com-
mand is of most importance to another.

Those who have from Nature a cool or a frigid
temperament, have seldom a struggle to maintain
either with the gaiety or with the impetuosity
of their minds, lint they have to combat what it
is perhaps more difficult to overcome; the Ian-

$6 SELF-DENIAL. SER. 3.

ffuor of affections which are seldom roused, and
which are never warm ; or the cold insensibili-
ty of mind which receives or retains no strong
impressions. It is not without a struggle with
themselves, that they enter deeply into any sub-
ject, or earnestly into any duty. It requires
both great strength of principle, and much of
the grace of God, who " quickeneth whomso-
ever he will," to keep their minds alive to the
minute practice of religion ; and it is still more
difficult to influence their conduct by means of
religious affections, or to brins; them into the
state of mind which the apostle expresses by
" peace and joy in believing."

This idea suggests another. There is in all
men a tendency to sloth, more fatal to the in-
fluence of religion than the effect of many temp-
tations. Whatever our general resolutions are, if
we are not constantly on our guard, there is an
indolence which is apt to work itself into our
habits by imperceptible degrees ; soliciting us to
neglect the discipline of our own minds ; to ne-
glect the exercises of devotion on which so
much of the spirit of religion depends ; to ne-
glect the duties which require from us any sen-

BKR. 3. SELF-DENIAL. 97

sible exertion or self denial; to suspend the vi-
gilance l)y which we ought to arm ourselves
against our peculiar temptations; to allow our-
selves to be engrossed by the concerns of this
transitory life, and to bestow but a small portion
either of our thoughts or of our time on the
permanent interests of the world to come.

To resist this tendency of the mind in its
rise and its progress, there is a self-denial which,
how different soever their peculiar tempers are,
Christians must practise all their lives, and
which is essential to their fidelity in every de-
partment of duty. A good man " commits
the keeping of his soul to God," and expects
from his influence and grace the salutary effects
of his own vigilance. But, on the other hand,
it must be evident, that he who will not " deny
himself," so as to maintain an effectual struggle
against the sloth, which strikes at the root of
religion in his mind, and of all its practice in
the world, cannot be the disciple of Christ.

I think it unnecessary to mention any other
minute examples on this part of the subject.
Cut it is of importance to add, that he who
would possess or preserve the spirit of vital

G

98 SELF-DENIAL. SER. 3.

religion in his own life, is under an indispen-
sible obligation to relinquish, with a firm and
decided resolution, whatsoever he knows from
his experience to have a pernicious influence on
the temper of his mind, on the turn of his
thoughts, on the affections which he ought to
cultivate, or on those which he is hound to sub-
due, on the faithful employment of his time,
or on the vigorous exercise of his talents.

No man renounces self-denial in these in-
stances, who does not sacrifice both his present
tranquillity and his general happiness. On the
other hand, it requires both faith and fortitude
to persist in the course of duty which the text
prescribes. But that which is begun in weak-
ness shall be perfected in power. lie whose
faith in the Son of God has really taught him
self-denial, "shall go from strength to strength."
His struggles with himself become every day
less, in proportion to his perseverance ; and the
farther he advances, the path of life is smoother
before him. His power over himself, and the
earnestness with which he applies to his essen-
tial duties, increase in proportion to the expe-
rience which he acquires; and that course of

S£R. 3. SKLF-DENIAL. 99

life which a worldly man contemplates with
perpetual impatience or disgust, is the source of
his purest and most permanent satisfactions.

On the other hand it is certain, that no man
becomes so perfect in this world, as to have no
more struggles to maintain. Every successive
period of human life, brings forward new temp-
tations, or new circumstances to convince us,
that we have still inclinations which require to
be watched or to be subdued. Our warfare
must, therefore, be firmly supported to the end
of our probation ; and " patience" must have
" its perfect work," till we are " perfect and
entire, wanting nothing*."

But let it not he imagined that this doctrine
supposes Christianity in practice to require a
severity of discipline, or a degree of patience, to
which there is nothing analogous in the other
pursuits of human life. To be satisfied on this
subject, we have only to represent to ourselves
the self-denial requisite in order to acquire the
qualifications necessary for any art or profes-
sion ; the labour and patience inseparable from
the exercise of every man's particular occupa-

* Jamrs i. 4.
C 2

100 SELF-DENIAL. SEll. 3.

tion ; the many sacrifices which we are com-
pelled to make of our inclinations, both to very
distant expectations, and to the most uncertain
prospects of success in life; the drudgery, the
hardships, the self-government, to which men
patiently submit in their worldly affairs, for the
sake of what is at last but a transitory reward,
even when they are permitted to attain it.

The happiness and prosperity of human life
depend on the practice and on the effects of
self-denial in all these different instances. Chris-
tianity prescribes a discipline of much less se-
verity. The reward which it annexes to our
perseverance, in the mean time, is far greater.
The ultimate result which it presents to our
view, is incomparably more certain, and is be-
yond our highest hope. The perfection of our
nature, and our happiness through eternal ages,
are to compensate our fidelity during the period
of a short probation. " Every man," says the
apostle, " that striveth for the mastery, is tem-
perate in all things; now they do this to obtain
a corruptible crown, but we to obtain an in-
corruptible*."

* 1 Cor. ix. 25.

SER. 3." SELF-DENIAL. 101

That " the children of this world" may not
he always " wiser than the children of light,"
let us " suffer the word of exhortation." " Let
us lay aside every weight, and the sin which
doth so easily beset us ; and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,
who, for the joy that was set before him, en-
dured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of God *." " If any
man will come after" him, " let him deny him-
self, and take up his cross daily and follow"
him j\

" Now the God of peace that brought again
from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shep-
herd of the sheep, through the blood of the
everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every
good work to do his will, working in you that
which is well-pleasing in his sight, through
Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and
ever, amen J."

• !Icb. xii. 1. J. f Luke ix. 23!

Jllrb. Niii. 20. 21.

SERMON IV*

ON

THE FORM OF GODLINESS.

2 timothy iii. 5.

" Having a form of godliness, but denying the
porver thereof: from such turn away *."

JL his text represents to us one of the leading
or prominent characters of the last ages, of
which so many descriptions are given us in the
New Testament. " This know also/' the
apostle says at the beginning of this chapter,
" that in the last clays perilous times shall come."
He exhibits a variety of melancholy features in
the character of the times to which he alludes,

• Preached February 12. ISO], the day appointed by the
'Cirm for a General Fast

SKR. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 103

and completes the representation of them by
affirming in the text, that men shall then " have
the form of godliness, who deny the power
thereof."

He had not in his view the hypocrites of any
age, who conceal their true characters under the
mask of religion; or who cover their secret de-
pravity by a high-sounding zeal for religious
doctrines, or by a strict or ostentatious observa-
tion of religious rites. Though hypocrites have
abounded in all ages of the world, and though
hypocrisy may be used to cover any vice or
crime, the terms " boasters, blasphemers, truce-
breakers, traitors, high-minded men," found in the
verses preceding this text, are certainly not the
descriptions of hypocrisy ; but, on the contrary,
must be applied to men whose conduct is both
decided and avowed. And as the different parts of
the apostle's description are manifestly applied to
the same characters and to the same periods, and
are all summed up or comprehended in the text
before us, it is certain that it is not of hypocrites
of whom he intended to say, that " they have a
form of godliness, but deny the power thereof."
On the contrary, the leading features of the

1&4 THE FORM OF GODUNESS. SER. 4.

characters which he meant to describe, are the
reverse of hypocrisy. Hypocrites do not " deny
the power of godliness," but they falsely and in*
sincerely profess to feel its power. Their zeal
for the forms is employed to conceal the false-
hood by which they pretend to the spirit of re-
ligion. They are conscious of the power which
religion possesses in the characters of good men ;
and it is to persuade the world, in contradiction
to the fact, that they have the personal experi-
ence of its influence, that all their hypocrisy is
employed.

The characters to which the apostle's descrip-
tion is applied, are manifestly the characters of
men who reject the substance of Christianity,
while they profess to acknowledge or to con*
tend for the forms of it: of men, whose general
manners are an explicit, disavowal of the au-
thority of religion, and of its power to bind the
conscience, notwithstanding the zeal which they
express for its external rites. The apostle re-
presents minutely the manners of those whom
he describes, contrasting them with " the form
of godliness" which they assume; and the pe-
culiai features which he attributes to their cha •

*ER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 105

racters, he affirms to be the leading and peculiar
features of " the last, or perilous times," of
which he meant to forewarn the church of
Christ.

In the language of the New Testament, " the
last days" do not signify the last years of the
world : hut in general represent the whole
period from the first promulgation of Christiani-
ty to the time when the world shall end, as dis-
tinguished from the early and intermediate ages.
And though the apostle pertain ly intended to ad-
monish the believers generally, that Christianity
held out to them no exemption from the perils
arising either from unprincipled men or from
false brethren ; his minute description of " the
perilous times" to which the whole section from
the beginning of this chapter relates, must be
interpreted and applied by means of the pro-
minent characters which he assigns to them.

The manners which he describes may cer--
tainly be found in different ages. But it is our
business to consider how far they have fallen
under our own observation, or are applicable to
Our own times : for we may be fully assured,
that if such characters of " the perilous times"

]06 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4.

are come down to us, we have strong reasons
indeed for repentance, and most impressive ad-
monitions both from the word and from the
providence of God. I shall,

I. Inquire how far the present times are dis-
tinguished by men's attachment to " the form
of godliness." II. Consider how far it appears
from the characters specified by the apostle, that
the same men " deny the power of godliness,"
who are zealous in contending for " the form"
of it. And then, III. Endeavour to make ap-
plication of the doctrine, by illustrating the
apostle's admonition, " to turn away" from the
characters which this text represents to us. I
am,

I. To inquire how far the present times are
distinguished by an attachment to " the form of
godliness."

It cannot be affirmed, that in private life there
is at present any unusual attention to religious
institutions, or that the observation of the forms
of religion, is either more exact or more con-
spicuous than in former times. On the con-
trary, it must be admitted, though it is a melan-
choly truth, that the tendency of the present

SER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 107

times is to individual relaxation, with regard to
every thins; which relates to the profession or to
the rites of religion. Whether our private man-
ners are better or worse* it is certain that there
is much less general solicitude to preserve the
form or appearance of personal godliness, than
we know to have distinguished the times of our
fathers. This fact is undeniable ; and I men-
tion it now, without any other remark, than that
it proves to us, that it is not in our private or
individual capacities, that the present times are
distinguished by any peculiar attachment to " the
forms" of religion.

But there is another view of the subject, in
which a zealous contention for " the forms" of
religion, has certainly become a prominent fea-
ture of the age in which we live.

The infidelity and the crimes which have for
so many years desolated Europe, have sounded
a just alarm to the countries which have hither-
to preserved their tranquillity. That unprin-
cipled system *, which, not satisfied with dis-
solving the whole fabric of a corrupt .church,

* Alluding to the system which produced the revolution ir*
France.

108 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4«

proscribed Christianity itself as a pestilent su-
perstition ; and which avowedly set the people
loose from every Christian institution, and from
every rite which bears the name of religion;
was naturally dreaded everywhere, as the har-
binger of the anarchy and crimes, which were
its first effects. Men who would have felt little
for religion, trembled for the public order and
for the civil government of their own country.
They began to perceive, that the innovations
which commence with the contempt of religious
institutions, trample on every thing else in their
progress; till at last, with the altar, which they
profess to overthrow, they level every other es-
tablishment essential to the existence of political
society.

From these impressions, derived from events
which are but yet in their progress, has arisen
a solicitude for public religion, and for the pre-
servation of religious institutions, so general and
impressive, as to give a character to the present
time. Men of every order have been roused:
and professing to feel alike, notwithstanding the
diversity of their private characters, have ranged
themselves with the same apparent zeal, among

SER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 109

those who contend earnestly for the religious
establishments, and who profess to see the im-
portance of guarding them from neglect or vio-
lation.

It is a most interesting fact to those who are
sincerely attached to the gospel, that, in all the
variety of ranks and characters around them,
every dispassionate man professes to feel the im-
portance of the ordinances of religion, and at
least pretends to give his help in maintaining
their authority. Every man who calls himself
a friend to good order or to good government,
a friend to the laws or to the prosperity of his
country, expresses a strong persuasion of the
importance of the institutions of Christianity to
the best interests of human life, and of the ne-
cessity of preserving their salutary influence on
the conditions of the people. There is a con-
viction, more impressive than ever, among every
description of men, not only that religion and
religious rites are essential to the order and hap-
piness of mankind ; but that fidelity to the king
and to the laws is not to be separated ' from a
zeal to support the authority and the forms of
religion.

110 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4.

The impressions which this language conveys
would be important indeed, if men were as zea-
lous for personal as for public religion ; if they
were as much in earnest in contending for the
substance of Christianity, as they profess to be
for maintaining its external institutions ; if they
were as solicitous for the sanctification and sal-
vation of the people, and for their own sancti-
fication by the faith of the gospel, as they pro-
fess to be for the order and tranquillity of the
world, to which they would render the institu->
tions of Christianity subservient; and if their
reverence for Christ and for his ordinances, had
the same place in their private conduct, which
. they profess to give it in their political opinions.
There are certainly men of whom all this can
be truly said ; men, too, who have been roused
by means of the events which I have mention-
ed, to think more seriously than they did be-
fore, of the importance of practical and personal
religion, as well as of Christian institutions, to
the present and eternal interests of mankind ;
men, who are prepared to contend for the sub-
Stance, more than they ever contended for " the
forms of godliness ;" however important they

SER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. Ill

believe these to be to the happiness and salva-
tion of the world.

But, humbling as the reflection is, it cannot be
pretended or affirmed with truth, that this is in
any respect the general character of the present
times ; or that the solicitude for private and per-
sonal, bears any proportion to the zeal which
has been professed for public and external re-
ligion.

Men, heated by the controversies of the day,
acquire a zeal for the forms of religion, which
has but little relation to their personal conduct,
and which does not go beyond the circum-
stances which produced it. They imagine that
they see the importance of religion to the pre-
sent tranquillity of the world; and arc therefore
willing to give their help, or at least, when it is
directly put to them, to give their voice, to pre-
serve its external institutions. But they have
not allowed themselves to observe, that public
without personal religion can have no substan-
tial or permanent effect. They have not brought

themselves to consider Christianity as that which

t

ought to come home to their own minds; as it
binds the conscience ; as it becomes the govern-

112 THE F0IUI OF GODLINESS. SER. 4.

ing principle of human conduct; as it holds out
Christ to the world as " the wisdom of God
and the power of God to every one who be-
lieveth ;" or as it persuades men " to work out
their salvation with fear and trembling," before
it becomes, in any instance, the principle of fide-
lity in the duties of the present life.

It is certain, that the external rites may be
strictly observed, when they are completely se-
parated from the spirit of religion. Men may
contend earnestly for the institutions of Chris-
tianity, who are personally indifferent both to
its substance and to its general design. " The
forms of godliness" may acquire an importance
as a branch of a political system, which is not
conceded to them as the ordinances of Christ,
or as the means of salvation.

But the text before us goes a step farther than
any of these suppositions. It affirms, that " in
the perilous times," men " shall have a form of
godliness, who shall deny the power thereof:"
and the meaning of the assertion is obviously
this, that they shall not only be indifferent to
the substance or the power of Christianity, while
they contend for " the forms of it ;" but shall

SER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 113

go so far as to deny that it has a substance or a
power to reach the conscience, or to bind it.

This is a strong assertion, when applied to
any species or appearance of zeal for religion.
But the apostle lias referred us to specific facts,
on which every application of his assertion must
depend ; and which deserve to be considered
with the most solemn attention as the charac-
ters given us of " the perilous times." I am
now, therefore,

II. To consider, how far it appears, from the
characters specified by the apostle, that the same
men "deny the power of godliness," who arc
zealous in contending for " the form" of it.

It is obvious, that men will not readily deny
in words, the substance of Christianity, while
they profess to maintain the authority of its in-
stitutions. It is only from their conduct, or
from their peculiar manners, that we can learn
their real views and impressions.

The apostle has given us a most minute de-
scription of the manners which he connects
with " the perilous times." " This know also,
that in the last days perilous times shall
come. For nun shall be lovers of their own-

H

]J4 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4»

selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy;
without natural affection, truce-breakers, false ac-
cusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that
are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of
pleasures more than lovers of God ; having a
form of godliness, but denying the power there-
of."

The manners, which are here enumerated, do
not convey to us the idea of the first ap-
proaches to degeneracy, or of a variety of slight
deviations from principle or duty. They repre-
sent to us the hard, unprincipled, and deter-
mined, manners of an age of luxury : and these
are described as united to " the form of godli-
ness/' although they contain the most explicit
and direct disavowal of its power and sub-
stance *•

I cannot illustrate all the particulars which
the apostle has specified, though every one of
them bears directly on the point to which they

* The description has been generally, and perhaps justly,
applied to the reign of Antichrist. But the apostle John tells
us, (1 John ii. 18.) that in " the last time," " there are many
Antichrists."

SER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 115

are applied. But I shall turn your attention to
a few of them as examples ; and consider how
tar the description is in these articles applicable
to our times. The particulars which I select
are these following:: " Men shall be lovers of
their ownselves, and covetous, — blasphemers,—
lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, —
despisers of those that are good."

(1.) It is affirmed, that u in the perilous
times, men shall be lovers of their ownselves,
and covetous."

The assertion is plainly this, that selfishness
and rapacity were to constitute one of the pe-
culiar features of those times; and that the sel-
iish passions, the love of gain, and the rage for
wealth, were then to become general or pre-
dominating characters among all the orders of
the people.

It is impossible not to perceive, in the cha-
racter of our own country, that the rage for
wealth has gradually diffused itself through the
various conditions of the people, and above the
proportion of the means of attaining it; till it
has gone as far beyond the experience as the
anticipations of former times. Expensive living

u 2

116 THE I'ORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4.

and expensive pleasures have had an unexam-
pled progress among the different ranks of
men : and to support them, there is a degree of
general rapacity created, which assumes all the
various aspects which it can derive from the
variety of our conditions ; and which it is
more useful to deplore than to describe. With
all the strong impressions we receive of public
and of private* calamities, every man pursues
his separate interests steadily and firmly, uncon-
scious of the influence of his success to add to
the pressure of the times, or disregarding it;
while the gains of no individual man awaken
our alarms, amidst the accumulations and cupi-
dity of the multitude around him.

There is an infinite variety in the aspects,
which the spirit of the world and the spirit of
selfishness assume; and in the false virtues,
united to the profusion and the rapacities of the
present times, there are as many striking, or at
least apparent, contradictions. But the facts
which I have mentioned, are sufficient to give

* Alluding to the scarcity in 1800-1801, when this sermon
was preached.

SER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 1 17

us a precise idea of the apostle's description;
" men shall be lovers of their ownselves, and
covetous."

Christ has said to us, " ye cannot serve God
and Mammon." It is possible to have all the
selfishness of the world, and, at the same time,
to support " the forms" of religion. In as far
as these are supposed to contribute to the tran-
quillity of nations, it is natural to believe that
they are not useless in promoting the prospe-
rity of selfish men. It is as easy to con-
ceive, why men should contend for them ear-
nestly, and should be active in guarding them
from violation, as long as they see in them the
means of security or of advantage to the world,
though they carry their views no higher.

But, on the other hand, it is impossible that
the same men should not " deny the power of
godliness," amidst all their zeal for M the forms
of it." The godliness which restrains their sel-
fishness, which condemns their avarice, which
forbids their unhallowed gains, and which com-
mands them " to repent io dust ancf ashes,"
they cannot either reverence cr receive, till they
cease to be what they are. " The power"

318 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4.

which they do not feel, and which they are re-
solute in resisting, they must and do " deny."
They contend for " the forms of godliness;"
hut in " the forms" their religion terminates.
If these shall help in any degree to promote the
tranquillity of the world, they afford a sufficient
motive for their attachment to them. But their
zeal, proceeding from such a motive, is no-
thing better than the clamour of the crafts-
men of Ephesus, who " made their gain by the
shrines of Diana," and who cried out together
against the apostles of the Lord, " Great is
Diana of the Ephesians *." They are as hostile
to " the power of godliness" which binds the
conscience, which " purifies the heart," and
which determines men " to seek first the king-
dom of God," as the most inveterate of the
craftsmen of Ephesus were, or as the most re-
solute unbelievers are.

The conclusion from this representation is
melancholy indeed. But it is the result of facts
which every man may examine for himself;
and it is useful for us to consider it, if we would
guard our zeal for " the forms of godliness," by

* Acts xix. 34.

SEK. 4. THE F0IIAI OF GODLINESS. 119

our full persuasion and our awe of its " power: '
if we would separate the true spirit of Chris-
tianity, from the zeal which is guided by the
spirit of the world, and " would not be par-
takers of other men's sins."

(2.) The apostle affirms of " the perilous
times," that men shall then be blasphemers,"
although they shall notwithstanding have " the
form of godliness."

Blasphemy is the highest and most pointed
expression of irreverence for God, which men
can convey by words; of irreverence for the
name or for the attributes of God ; of irre-
verence for the name, for the doctrine, or for
the authority, of Christ.

There can be but few examples of solemn
blasphemy; because there are not many occa-
sions to produce it. But the blasphemy of the
profane is perpetual: and it has unhappily been,
for ages, observed to form a remarkable feature in
the character of our own country*. The shock-
ing oaths or imprecations which are employed to
embellish the most frivolous or unmeaning con-
versation, or to give something like point or

* Henry's History, vol. x. ch. 7. octavo edition.

120 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4.

energy to the gaiety, or the passionate decla-
mations, of unprincipled men, have heen the
reproach of every age, and are more and more
incorporated with the manners of every rank of
the people.

But it was reserved for " the perilous times'"
to bring forward, from the different conditions
of life, profane men, who, without any active
part assigned them, and with no personal awe
of religion, should publicly unite to contend
with zeal for " the forms of godliness." Men
stand up among us to deplore the progress of
infidelity, and its ravages on the earth, eager to
bring forward their personal solicitude for the
preservation and for the reverence of religion
among the people ; who can scarcely find words
to express their zeal, without blaspheming " by
heaven and by him that dvvelleth therein ;" by
" Christ the Son of the living God," and by
every u other manner of oath." They contend
at this moment for " the forms" of religion, as
if they involved the most important interests of
human life; and they cannot speak of the most
common things, in the most common way,
without the most direct and unqualified profa-

.-Ek. 4. THK FORM OF GODLINESS. 121

nation of the name of God ; in utter contempt
of every thing which pertains to godliness, ei-
ther in form or in substance. We find this
character of our degeneracy, not merely among
the dissipated and thoughtless youth, whose
principles and manners are not yet established,
or among ignorant and empty declaimers, who
have no knowledge or no character; but we
find it also, among men who possess a good
understanding on other subjects, and even among
those who have both superior reputation and
abilities in the management of affairs. The
inveteracy of habits, which it requires nothing
but the awe of principle to correct, is the only
defence of their profanity which they will ven-
ture to plead: and even this they will mention
with confidence, though they are conscious that
they are deliberately indulging their profanity,
in direct violation of every principle both of
duty and religion.

Shall men like these — " blasphemers" of re-
ligion, even at the moment when they most
avow themselves the enemies of infidelity —
shall they become the guardians or the cham-
pions of godliness ? Every form attributed to re-

122 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4>

ligion is blasted on the lips of profanity ; and
every thing which is peculiar to the substance
or the " power of godliness," the language of
profanity resolutely and publicly " denies.'* He
who lives from day to day, blaspheming the
God of heaven, cannot be conceived to believe,
that godliness has a substance or " a power," in
which either his duties or his personal happiness
are involved.

It is a most impressive duty among religious
men, to unite steadily to promote and to pre-
serve the reverence of God among the people,
and " the power of godliness." But it is their
duty also, to receive, with reverence and awe,
the striking admonitions given them by " blas-
phemers," who contend for " the forms of god-
liness." They verify the characters of " the
last days," of which " the spirit speaketh ex-
pressly." They warn us of " the perils," of
which they are declared to be the signal. They
shew us how earnestly we are bound " to con-
tend" for the substance and for the practical in-
fluence of " the faith once delivered to the
saints ;" and they certainly afford us the strong-
est and most urgent reasons to fast and pray to-
gether.

SEH. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 123

(3.) The apostle says of " the perilous times,"
that men shall then " be lovers of pleasure more
than lovers of God."

Those who are accustomed to observe and to
estimate living manners, cannot but perceive,
how high the encreasing luxury and wealth of
our country have raised " the love of pleasure;"
how it has grown and spread from the first to
the last orders oC the people ; how almost every
interest and pursuit gives way to it among the
higher ranks ; and how much even the middle
orders of men sacrifice to it, of their health, of
their precious time, of their money, of their la-
bour, of their private comfort, of their domestic
habits, of their serious hours, and of their best
duties.

One class of men pursue it as their chief bu-
siness ; and another class, who profess to culti-
vate more sobriety of mind, find themselves un-
able either to restrain or to resist the torrent of
fashionable manners, notwithstanding the pres-
sure both of war and of famine*, and the cries
of poverty around them. They admit, that we

• The scarcity and the exorbitant price of provisions were
et this time most severely felt.

124 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4*

are receiving the most striking admonitions of
Providence; they do not profess to disregard
them ; and yet at this moment the succession of
their festivities is scarcely kept from encroaching
on the solemnities of religion. The love of
pleasure is the predominating passion of the pre-
sent times ; which gathers fuel and strength from
all our prosperity, and which receives scarcely
any check from our heaviest and most humbling
calamities.

Can it be seriously denied, that the men of the
present time " are lovers of pleasures more than
lovers of God ?" What species or form of plea-
sures do they deliberately and permanently sa-
crifice to their sense of God ; to the warnings
he has given them; to the present aspect of
Providence around them ; or to the general con-
siderations of duty or religion? They assume
" the form of godliness," and are forward in ex-
pressing their zeal for maintaining it. But, in
their personal conduct, do they relinquish either
their pleasures or their business, that " they
may sanctify the Lord's Day or keep it holy;'*
or do they give their time, or give their perso-

SEIt. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 125

nal countenance, even to " the form of godli-
ness," for which they profess to contend?

There is a great variety of characters amongst
us. But I say it confidently, that there is in
the present time a more marked disrespect to
the ordinances of religion, more of the pursuit
of pleasure in defiance of the authority of reli-
gion, and more open profanations of the Lord's
Day, (which hecomes more and more a day
both of pleasure and of business) than has ever
before been observed in this place.

It is obvious that I do not speak of those
who have in any degree imbibed the spirit of
religion. But I refer to multitudes of men who
have of late been most clamorous against the
effects of infidelity, and who, from political mo-
tives, have expressed much solicitude to pre-
serve our religious institutions.

If they have ever been in earnest in the at-
tachment they have professed to the ordinances
of Christ, they have at least proved themselves
' to be lovers of pleasures more than lovers of
God." They have at least proved, t-hat in
whatever light they regard " the form," they
explicitly " deny the power of godliness;" since

126 THE FORM OF GODLIXESS. SER. 4.

they do not permit the awe of God either to set
bounds to their pleasures, or to determine their
conduct.

What can come more directly home to the
apostle's description of the perilous times ? Men
give themselves to pleasures and not to God.
Though they contend for " the forms" of ex-
ternal religion as a political system, " they
deny" or disavow " the power of godliness,"
in as far as it is hostile to their manners, and
forbids the pleasures which they will not aban-
don.

(4.) The apostle says of " the perilous times,"
that men shall then " be despisers of those that
are good."

This part of the description goes deep into
the characters which he meant to represent.

Men are often in earnest in the zeal which
they express for the authority of religion, who
have not been able to realise in their practice
even their own ideas of their personal duties.
But when this is the case, conscious of their
sincerity, they at least regard with respect and
love those whom they believe to be purer than
themselves, or consider as better maintaining

IEB. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 127

their fidelity to their common master. They
contemplate with sensible interest and satisfac-
tion their fervor, their holy conversation, and
every good work which they accomplish.

This is universally the temper of good men
towards one another, notwithstanding the diver-
sity in their personal characters, and all the va-
riety of their talents.

But, on the other hand, it is as universally
true, that the spirit of the world is in perpetual
enmity with the spirit of Christ. Men who
have no more than " the form of godliness,"
and harden themselves against " the power of
it," look with perpetual jealousy or disgust on
those who are more in earnest than themselves
" in obeying the gospel."

This character of " the perilous times" is per-
fectly consonant with the general view which
Christianity has given us of the spirit of the
world. " The world hath hated them," said
our Lord of his disciples, " because they are
not of the world, even as I am not of the
world*." Cain hated Abel, and slew him,

* John xvii. 14.

128 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4.

" because his own works were evil, and his bro-
ther's righteous * ;" " yea, and all that will live
godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution |."

He who " denies the power of godliness,"
will never look with respect on those who abide
by it. That light, superficial, and formal reli-
gion, which does not reach the heart, and which
has no real influence on men's conduct, or on
their motives, is all the religion which he either
professes or acknowledges. But his own mind
will often involuntarily tell him, that better men
know Christianity better, because they find in it
the power which he denies ; and because while
he receives from it no sensible satisfactions, they
" rejoice in it with joy unspeakable and full of
glory." This reproach he will not forget; and
tor this reproach, he becomes a perpetual " des-
piser of them who are good."

It is a melancholy character of " perilous
times," that men who contend merely for " the
forms" of religion, and who have nothing more,
teach themselves, and encourage one another, to
despise those who have imbibed the spirit of it.

* 1 Johniii. 12. f 2 Tim. iii. 1Q.

KB, 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 1£9

There is not a degree of inveteracy betwixt man
and man, which goes beyond the contempt or
hatred of those who have no more of religion
than its form, for every species or appearance
of serious, personal, or vital godliness. What
they cannot despise as hypocrisy, they persecute
as narrow or illiberal; and the conduct which
they cannot condemn as corrupt, they affect to
despise for what they affirm to be its useless
strictness or severity. They receive every sur-
mise with avidity, to the prejudice of men who
profess to feel " the power of godliness." They
embrace every calumny against them with eager-
ness; and they set down every circumstance of
aggravation with a malignant satisfaction.

Is this kind of malignity suspended, when
men have begun to express an unusual zeal for
external religion? The spirit of the world is
ever at the same variance with the spirit of
Christ ; and those who " have the form of
godliness, but deny the power thereof," the
more they express their zeal for something
which is not godliness, are just so much the
more determined " despisers of them who are
good."

j

ISO THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4*

The characters given us of " the perilous
times," ought to render the subject I have en-
deavoured to illustrate, most interesting to us ;
and the present aspect of Providence should lead
us to review it with the most solemn atten-
tion.

I have considered, 1. How far the present
times are distinguished by an attachment to " the
forms of godliness;" and then, 2. How far it
appears, from the characters specified, that the
same men " deny the power of godliness," who
are zealous in contending for " the form of
it."

I have illustrated but a few of the characters
mentioned bjr the apostle, though there are o-
thers in his enumeration which are equally strik-
ing. In one discourse I could attempt no more ;
but the specimens I have given are sufficient to
enable us to examine every part of the descrip-
tion.

Permit me now to direct your thoughts,

III. To the application of the doctrine.

The apostle first affirms, that " in the peri-
lous times, men shall be lovers of their own-
selves, and covetous — blasphemers — lovers of

SER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 131

pleasures more than lovers of God — despisers
of them who are good." He then subjoins his
exhortation to the believers, concerning the con-
duet which they ought to observe with regard
to such characters : " From such turn away."

We are often in danger of being deceived by
words or appearances, when we have not exa-
mined the substance of that to which they re-
late. An ardent or a conspicuous zeal for " the
form of godliness," may be easily mistaken for
a persuasion of its " power." But we are re-
quired to try the professions of religion, by their
effects on men's lives, and on their visible man-
ners. We " do not gather grapes of thorns,
or figs of thistles;" and " a corrupt tree cannot
bring forth good fruit." Men may certainly
" profess to know God," and to reverence his
institutions, though their general temper and
manners demonstrate that they deny Him, and
despise them.

I have stated fairly the characters to which
the text refers, so as to enable you to judge of
them ; and to whomsoever such characters ap-
ply, the apostle admonishes and commands us,
" from such to turn away." He says, with a

i S

132 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4.

similar minuteness, to the Philippians, " many
walk, of whom I have told you often, and now
tell you, even weeping, that they are the ene-
mies of the cross of Christ ; whose end is de-
struction, whose God is their belly, whose glory
is in their shame, who mind earthly things*."

Guard yourselves, my brethren, against the
influence and the manners of men of corrupt
minds. Some intercourse we must have with
active men of the most different characters, " or
else (as the Scripture says) we must go out of the
world f." But in the general intercourse, which
cannot be avoided, it is a most impressive duty
" to watch and pray, that we enter not into temp-
tation," and that we may be able to keep our
hearts and our manners equally uncorrupted by
the influence and by the example of unprin-
cipled men. We have all the natural and ex-
ternal symptoms of difficult and " perilous times"
around us; the miseries of scarcity, and the ca-
lamities of war, added to the most alarming se-
ries of political convulsions in the neighbour-
ing states. The internal symptoms which I have

* Philip, iii. 18. lp. f 1 Cor. v. 10.

SER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 133

represented, are not less visible, arising from the
perversion of our manners and opinions.

And what should be necessary, besides these
circumstances, to rouse us to prayer and to fast-
ing? It is certain that we are not without our
share in the national degeneracy ; and the ad-
monition of this day ought to come home to our
hearts. " Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, consider
your ways*." " Humble yourselves in the sight
of the Lord, and he shall lift you upf." " Re-
pent, and be converted, that your sins may be
blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall
come forth from the presence of the Lord J."
" The form of godliness" will always be pre-
cious to faithful men; but its spirit and power
alone are " life and peace." Wherefore, my
brethren, " suffer the word of exhortation." Re-
ligion is of the last importance to the present
and eternal interests of mankind ; and the "forms
of godliness" are essential to the means of pro-
moting and preserving its influence in the world.
Let nothing be wanting on your part, to guard
the institutions of religion from irreverence and

• Hag. i. 5. f James iv. 10, % Acts iii. 1.9.

134 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SEll. 4.

neglect; and at least endeavour to distinguish
yourselves by your personal adherence to them,
in opposition to all the perversion of others.
But watch the temper of your minds, and do
not suffer your zeal to be polluted by the spirit
of the world. Let your attention be chiefly fix-
ed on the substance of Christianity, that per-
sonal religion may be the chief object of your
zeal, and may animate all your solicitude for
" the forms of godliness."

Finally, brethren, " let your conversation be
without covetousness, and be content with such
things as ye have*." " Stand in awe, and sin
not. |" " Keep yourselves in the love of God J,"
amidst all the corruption of the world ; heartily
united with " the faithful in Christ Jesus" in
every good work, and "striving together for the
faith of the gospel §."

* Heb. xiii. 5. + Psalms iv. 4.

$ Judev. 21. § Philip, i. 27«

SERMON V.

ON

CHRISTIAN FAITH AND MOKALITY.

PHILIPPIANS i. 07.

— u That ye standfast in one spirit, with one m'uid,
striving together for the faith of the gospel"

" A he faith of the gospel" is published to man-
kind as the last and most perfect revelation of
the will of God. It contains the only certain
assurance of the mercy of God to sinners ; and
to those who receive it, it is the only authorita-
tive doctrine of human obligations.

Genuine religion, among those to whom the
gospel is sent, is nothing but " the faith of the
gospel" in practice, applied to every situation of
the human mind. A man is a Christian only

136 CHRISTIAN FAITH SER. 5.

in as far as his faith in the doctrines of Christ
possesses an uniform influence on his affections
and on his conduct. The apostle could scarce-
ly have represented practical Christianity in more
comprehensive terms, than when he supposes
the believers " to stand fast in one spirit, with
one mind, striving together for the faith of the
gospel."

He had no intention, by introducing the terms
" striving together," to make any allusion to the ,
contentions, of which religion has so frequently
been made the pretence or the occasion. This
language is simply designed to express the ear-
nestness, and the union of good men in adhering
to " the faith of the gospel," in opposition to
the malignity, the corruption, and the infidelity
of the world.

There are two different lights in which the
subject suggested by this text may be consider-
ed.

We may suppose the apostle to have had in
his eye the substance and the practical influ-
ence, of " the faith of the gospel." And in,
both these views, inseparably connected, I shall

6EK. 5. AND MORALITY. 137

endeavour to illustrate the stedfastness of true
believers.

I suppose the representation of the text to re-
late,

I. To the substance of " the faith of the gos-
pel."

It will be easily perceived, that in mention-
ing the substance of the gospel, I do not merely
refer to the principles on which all religion de-
pends; the existence and providence of God,
or the moral obligations of men. These are ori-
ginal principles, which must be inseparable from
every idea of religion. But though they are in-
volved in the substance of Christianity, they do
not form its discriminating or peculiar features.
Id referring to them at present, I consider them
a* inseparable from the doctrines, by which the
gospel is distinguished from every other revela-
tion, and from every other form of religion.

The doctrines which relate to the restoration
of the human race, and which the gospel employs
" to guide our feet into the way of peace," were,
in the wisdom of God, unfolded by many gra-
dations, from the earliest to the latest revelation :
the light gradually opening and expanding from

138 CHRISTIAN FAITH SER. 5.

one age to another, as the time approached when
the full revelation was to be given. The last re-
velation from heaven neither did nor could be-
come complete, till the events on which it de-
pended were accomplished. Christianity is built
on the incarnation, the obedience, the death,
and the resurrection of the Son of God, for
the redemption of the world. Before the pe-
riod of these events, the faith of good men,
in the peculiar dispensation of their own times,
answered the immediate purposes of practical
religion ; whilst it uniformly referred to a purer
and better system, to be afterwards unfolded.
The ancient believers joined to the knowledge
which they possessed, their reliance on the
full revelation to come ; and though they had
not received the accomplishment of the original
promises of redemption, they lived " and died *
in the faith" of them; deriving from them their
purest motives, and resting on them their best
expectations.

If this was the state of the ancient church,
the believers of the gospel cannot surely be un-
der less obligation, now that the revelation is

• 1Kb. xi. 13—16.

SER. 5. AND MORALITY. 139

complete, and its promulgation general, to abide
steadily by theii peculiar faith, or " to strive
earnestly together" to preserve its substance en-
tire Practical Christianity is not to be separa-
ted from the great articles of the Christian doc-
trine, or from their continued influence and au-
thority in the minds of those who sincerely be-
lieve them.

According to the gospel, we rest our hopes of
the mercy of God to sinners, and of our per-
sonal salvation from sin and death, on the me-
diation of the Son of God betwixt God and
man ; on the merit of his " obedience unto
death" for our redemption * ; on the power of
his resurrection from the grave f; on the effi-
cacy of his intercession in heaven through the
blood of the atonement];; on the supreme do-
minion with which he is invested, for the securi-
ty and the eternal salvation of those " who come
unto God by him |; on the promise of the
Father"' by him, M to give the Holy Spirit to

• 1 Tim. ii. 5. 6. Rom. iii. 23—26. Ch. v. 21.
f Philip, ni. 10. Rom. vi. 9— 11. 1 ThfK* in 14.
X 1Kb. vu. 25. Hi-b. i-\. 12—21.
U Philip, ii. 9—11- He»i ». 17. 18.

140 CHRISTIAN FAITH SER. 5.

them who ask him*;" on the certainty of the
general resurrection of the dead, when " he
shall appear the second time, without sin un-
to salvation f ;" and on the sovereign authority
which is given him, " to judge the quick and
the dead" at the last day, " according to their
Works J."

He who is a Christian indeed, while he re-
lies steadily on the original principles on which
all religion depends, receives these essential ar-
ticles of the doctrine of Christ as the substance
of his peculiar faith. He abides by the hope
which is founded on them " as the anchor of
his soul." He rests on his persuasion of their
certainty, his most important interests in this
world, and in the world to come. The consi-
derations which he derives from them have an
influence in regulating and purifying the state
of his mind, as well as in determining his per-
sonal conduct, superior to the effect of all other
considerations whatsoever. And he is conscious,
that, independent of them, he would be destitute
both of principles and of consolations.

• Luke xi. 13. Luke xxiv. 4<).
f St John v. 28. 29- Hcb. ix. 28,
I Matthew xxv. 31 — 46.

SEK. 5^ AND MORALITY. 141

On the other hand, it is not possible to con-
ceive, that a man can be in earnest in the faith
of Christianity, who has no settled persuasion of
the truth or importance of its distinguishing te-
nets, or who deliberately allows himself to re-
gard them with neglect or with indifference. If
the peculiar information which the gospel has
given us concerning the doctrine of salvation by
Christ, were either uninteresting in itself, or
might, in any case, be neglected with safety,
Christianity could not be true, and our faith
would indeed be vain.

We may certainly have different views of the
same doctrines, without departing from the sub-
stance of our faith. We have not all the same
strength of understanding, nor the same clear
perception of the doctrines laid down to us : and
unintentional errors or mistakes will not destroy
our union with sound believers. But a Chris-
tianity, which professes to take no serious in-
terest in the doctrines of Christ and his. apos-
tles, concerning the apostacy and the redemp-
tion of the world, must to every man, who is
himself in earnest, appear to be far removed from
" the faith of the gospel."

142 CHRISTIAN FAITH SER. 5'j

There are many ways in which unbelievers
disguise their aversion to the Christian doctrine*
when they are unwilling to avow it, and in
which the false pretenders to Christianity con-
ceal their indifference. But there is no expe-
dient which they more frequently adopt, or in
which they are more generally united, than that
by which they endeavour to set the morality of
the gospel in opposition to its doctrines : When
they represent the distinguishing doctrines of
Christianity, either as matters of no intrinsic im-
portance, or as subjects " of doubtful disputa-
tion;" while they affect to extol its morality,
as containing within itself every thing which is
valuable in religion, or which ought to be in*
teresting to mankind.

The morality of the gospel is indeed of the
last importance; and is pure as the source from
which it comes. It embraces the full extent of
human obligations. It is the clear and indis-
pensible rule by which the believers of Christi-
anity are required to prove the sincerity and the
stedfastness of their faith; the decisive rule by
which their characters are to be estimated in this
world, and by which their fidelity shall at last

SEK. £• AND MORALITY. * ]43

be tried at the tribunal of God. I shall be able
to shew, under the second branch of the sub-
ject, how essential to Christianity its morality is,
and of how much importance it must always be,
that the believers should be united in maintain-
ing its authority.

But, in the mean time, let us not be pervert-
ed by words or sounds, so as to believe it pos-
sible, that the morality of the gospel can, in any
instance, be substituted in place of its doctrines,
or on any pretence set in opposition to them.

On this subject; I beseech you to consider,

(1.) That Christianity has given no new or
peculiar delineation of moral duties, different
from that which was given under the ancient
dispensation ; and that it has added nothing to
the system of morality, excepting the peculiar
principles or authority by which it has enforced
it.

The love of God, and the love of our neigh-
bour, were the summary of moral duties under
the law of Moses, as well as by the law of
Christ ; and the particular duties belonging to
each of these departments., were as clearly repre-
sented by the one as by the other. The sub-

144 CHRISTIAN FAITH' SER. 3.

stance of the same morality was even taught to
the Heathens as well as to the Jews ; though
not only without the advantage of a pure reli-
gion to illustrate or enforce it, but intermixed
with incalculable sources of perversion, result-
ing from the false and pernicious maxims which
the wisest Heathens adopted, as well as from the
influence of barbarous superstitions and idola~
tries.

The gospel is certainly far superior to every
other doctrine or system of moral instruction :
But it claims its pre-eminence, not because it lays
clown moral duties, which were not taught or
known before its promulgation, but on account
of the peculiar motives or sanctions by which it
enforces its morality. For it is impossible not to
admit, that Christian morals are brought home
to the consciences of mankind, by considerations,
of which it was not possible that either Jews or
Heathens could avail themselves.

On the other hand, it must be obvious, that
as soon as we take this view of the subject, we
admit the importance of the distinguishing doc-
trines of the gospel; for in them, and in them
alone, are to be found the peculiar principles

SIR. 5. AND MORALITY. 145

by which Christianity professes to enforce the ob-
ligation of moral duties. It represents to us, no
doubt, every consideration arising from our pre-
sent condition which can have any influence in
persuading us. But its chief ami most impressive
arguments for a holy life are such as the follow-
ing: That " the grace of God, which bringeth sal-
vation, hath appeared to all men, teaching us, that
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this pre-
sent world; looking for that blessed hope and
the glorious appearing of the great God, and our
Saviour Jesus Christ ; who gave himself for us,
that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and
purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous
of good works* :" That " if God so loved us, we
ought also to love one another f :" " That Christ
died for all, that they who live should not hence-
forth live to themselves, but unto him who died
for them and rose again J:" That " to every one
of us is given grace according to the measure of
the gift of Christ §;" and that "the .small and

* Titus ii. 1 1 — 1-1. | l John iv. 1 1 ,

$ 2 Cor. v. 15. § L'phcs. iv. 7.

146 CHRISTIAN FAITH SER. 5«

the great" shall stand at last before the judgment-
seat of Christ, to receive sentence, " every man
according as his works have been."

It is impossible to think of morality, as the
morality of the gospel, without referring it di-
rectly to these, or to similar considerations, by
which it is the peculiar office and object of the
New Testament to enforce it. Referred to these
principles, the morality of Christianity is incor-
porated with its essential doctrines ; and it can-
not be separated from them, without ceasing to
be Christian morality.

" The faith of the gospel" not only sug-
gests to us sound or useful motives to holi-
ness of life, but it is, in every instance, the best
security both of our ardour and fidelity in our
personal duties. The apostle Paul, after enu-
merating to Titus* the leading doctrines of
o-race and sanctification represented in the gos-
pel, subjoins to his enumeration these remark-
able words : " This is a faithful saying (or, this
is faithful and sound doctrine), and these things
(or, these doctrines) I will that thou affirm con-

* Titus iii? 3—8.

SER. 5. AND MORALITY. 147

stantly, to the end that* they who have believed
in God may be careful to maintain good works :
These things are good and profitable unto men."
He supposes, not only that the most effectual
mode of teaching Christian morality consists in
the faithful application of the doctrines of re-
demption, to inculcate or to enforce moral du-
ties ; but that the peculiar doctrines of (Christ
are to be constantly taught or affirmed, with the
express purpose and design of persuading the
believers to be stedfast in "maintaining: good
works." He who departs from the doctrines
of the gospel, under the pretence of extolling its
morality, relinquishes the substance of Christian
morals, as effectually as he abandons the founda?
tions of a Christian's hope.

I beseech you to consider,

(2.) What the morality is, which is industri-
ously separated from the doctrines of Christiani-
ty, or is inculcated independent of its relation
to them.

When I say that morality is separated from
Christianity, I do not mean to affirm, that this

* tvx.
K 2

148 CHRISTIAN FAITH SEIt. 5.

is always directly clone. It happens more fre-
quently, that the doctrines of the gospel are pas-
sed over in silence, or are treated as subjects
which a very wise or enlightened man does not
think it necessary minutely to consider; while
moral duties are stated, with few exceptions, as
if they had no reference to them.

Is the morality which is thus inculcated, the
pure, the universal, the watchful, or the uniform
morality represented in the gospel ? On the con-
trary, it is a morality which has seldom any re-
lation to God, or to the duties which we owe to
him ; a morality which applies chiefly, or en-
tirely, to our present interests; the morality
which the fashion, or the general manners of
the world, require ; the morality, which derives
its chief motives from present situations, and
from present events ; the morality of easy, pli-
ant, and conciliating manners, which neither
bears hard on the vices, nor goes deep into the
consciences of mankind ; the morality by which
men learn to declaim against religious zeal, and
against every thing which has the aspect either
of scrupulous holiness, or of earnest religion,
but which can teach them to look, without any

SER. 5. AND MORALITY. 149

dissatisfaction or murmur, on the dissipations of
the world, on the profane, and on the sensual,
and on the oppressors, and on the hardened.

Men of sound understanding ought to be able
to determine for themselves, whether this is the
morality of the gospel which is inculcated with
scarcely any relation to it, and from every mo-
tive rather than the motives of religion ; in
which the lessons of moral duty, separated from
the language of Christianity, are every day
brought nearer to the maxims and to the man-
ners of the world ; and from which men learn,
or are taught to believe, that wretched as their
progress* is in moral duties, they must derive
from it their only hope of salvation.

The unbeliever, and the false professor of Chris-
tianity, insensibly adopt the same language. Un-
der the pretence of setting morality and Christia-
nity at variance, they unite their endeavours to
sap the foundations of both. They first banish
from their thoughts the substance, or the pecu-
liar tenets of the gospel, as a metaphysical sys-
tem which may well be spared. When they
have effected this, their work is almost done:
for the morality which they profess to retain, is

150 CHRISTIAN FAITH gER. 5.

easily reconciled to the vices of the world; and,
though it were pure, soon becomes a dead let'
ter, separated from the principles or motives
which can alone support it.

It is impossible not to remark, besides, that
the supple and accommodating morality, which
bends to every fashion, and accords with every
new opinion ; which startles at every approach
of zeal for religion, but which fears nothing from
the lips of ungodliness or of infidelity; is in its
most favourable aspect, at least far removed from
the holiness of heart and life, by which the
sound believers of the gospel are represented in
the New Testament, as becoming " the temple
of God," and as " having the spirit of God
dwelling in them *." — I beseech you to consider,

(3.) The essential importance of the distin-
guishing doctrines of the gospel to the present
and eternal interests of mankind.

" God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on
him might not perish, but might have everlast-
ing life I." On this fact, on which Christianity

* 1 Cor. iii. 16. f St John iii. 16.

SER. 5. AND MORALITY. 151

is built, depends all our consolation as fallen
creatures, when we plead for mercy at the foot-
stool of God, or look forward with hope into
the world to come. We rely on it when we
pray for the remission of sins, for the help or
for the grace which our situations require, or for
the consolations which support us during our
pilgrimage in this world. It lies at the foun-
dation of our faith and confidence, when we
look forward to our final victory over death and
sin; to the certainty of the resurrection of the
dead ; or to " the glorious manifestation of the
sons of God." It relates to our most permanent
and most precious interests; and the advantages,
as well as the comfort, with which we are able
to contemplate them, depends on the persuasion
with which we rely on it, and on the doctrines
founded on it ; doctrines which contain the sub-
stance of the peculiar system of the gospel ; which
the gospel alone brings home to our conviction;
" That God (to wit) is in Christ reconciling the
world unto himself, not imputing their trespas-
ses unto them * ;" and, " that believing on Christ,
we have life through his name i\"

* 2 Cor. v. 19. t St John xx. 31.

152 CHRISTIAN FAITH SER. 5.

Shall it be possible to persuade us to regard
with neglect, or to think with prejudice, of doc-
trines on which so much must certainly depend,
if Christianity is true? Shall we fall into the
snare of malignant infidelity, without perceiving
that it strikes at the root both of our present and
of our eternal interests? Shall we permit our-
selves to be seduced into the cold and languid
indifference, with regard to the substance of
Christianity, expressed by men who feel not
" the powers of the world to come," and who
are equally unconscious of the comfort and of
the hopes which they abandon ?

If we aie Christians indeed, we will receive
the doctrines of Christ as they are, and abide by
them steadily, as the foundations of our perso-
nal hopes and consolations. We will "strive
together" earnestly to maintain the substance of
our faith entire, against all the prejudice and the
malignity of the world; and neither the scorn
of unbelievers, nor the example of false brethren,
will have any effect to shake our conviction, or
to lessen our zeal.

But the utmost attachment which we can ex-
press for the doctrines of Christ, forms but one

3ER. 5. AND MORALITY. 153

branch of the duty of his faithful disciples. Prac-
tical religion is of more importance than the
soundest opinions ; and the effects of Christian-
ity on the personal conduct of those who pro-
fess to receive it, furnish the only decisive test
by which either their characters or their faith
can be tried. And therefore I am now to con-
sider the representation of this text, as relating,

II. To the practical influence of " the faith of
the gospel."

It is plain that this idea was in the apostle's
mind, as well as the substance of the Christian
doctrine. For the text makes a part of an ex-
hortation to the believers, to maintain that pu-
rity in their personal conduct, " which becometh
the gospel," and ought to distinguish those who
embrace it. " Only let your conversation be
as becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether
I come and see you, or else be absent, I may
hear of your affairs, that ye all stand fast in one
spirit, with one mind, striving together for the
faith of the gospel."

Although it is certain that morality, separat-
ed from the doctrines of Christ, is not and can-
not be genuine Christianity ; but that, on the

154 CHRISTIAN FAITH SER. 5*

contrary, when the separation is intentional, it
is truly employed to defeat the design of our
most holy faith — it is not less certain, on the
other hand, that the moral or practical influence
of the Christian doctrines, and the authority of
the Christian law, are of the last importance to
the character of the believers, and must ever be-
long to the essence of vital religion.

The morality of Christianity is not only in
perfect agreement with its doctrines, and in every
point worthy of them ; but both by its substance
and by its authority is far superior to every
other system of morals which has ever been pub-
lished to mankind.

It will be readily admitted, that it embraces
the whole extent of the moral duties, which we
owe to God, or to ourselves, or to our fellow
creatures ; that its authority extends to the
thoughts and intents of the heart, as well as to
our external conduct ; and that it is given us,
not only as containing useful and important rules
for the advantage of human life, but as a law
which is in every point of indispensible obliga-
tion, and of which every breach subjects the of-
fender to l< the wrath of God."

SER. 5. AND MORALITY. &55

The morality which the world professes to re-
quire, not only allows men to violate many po-
sitive duties, or to neglect them deliberately, and
especially the duties which they owe to God;
but it permits them to live in the indulgence of
a multitude of vices, if not without reproach, at
least without incurring any forfeiture of their
personal character. The vices which do not con-
tradict the prudential maxims of worldly men,
or which do not encroach on their public man-
ners, how contrary soever to the law of God, are
easily reconciled to their ideas of morality, or at
least are easily sheltered from the severity of
their censures.

On the other hand, it is impossible not to per-
ceive, that the law of Christ professes to incor-
porate itself in every point with the essential cha-
racter of those whom he acknowledges as his
disciples. Pure, like its Author, and, like Him,
invariably the same, it admits of no deliberate or
continued violations of positive duties, and of
no habitual indulgence of known sins. On the
contrary, it pronounces decisively with regard to
those on whom such offences are chargeable,

156 CHRISTIAN FAITH SER. 5.

that whatever they profess, they have forfeited
their pretensions to vital Christianity.

The best of men are no doubt liable to fall
both into errors and into sins, through the
strength of external temptations, operating on
the depravity of human nature, and the weak-
ness of the human heart. When they do fall
into them, they invariably lose their peace of
mind, till they are again " renewed to repen-
tance :" and the repentance which is required of
them, is not a repentance, like " the sorrow of
the world," the mere result of the present ef-
fects of their transgressions ; but a repentance
founded on a settled abhorrence of the sins which
are the subjects of it, and an effectual and deter-
mined resolution against them. But nothing can
be more certain, than that known and habitual
sins, deliberately persisted in, Christianity de-
clares, in every case, to be utterly irreconcileable
with the character of true believers. It pro-
nounces every man who lives in the deliberate
violation of his known duties to God or to his
fellow creatures, or in the habitual commission
of known sins, as in every instance, without re-
striction, " an enemy to the cross of Christ.'*

SER. 5. AND MORALITY. 157

The language which it employs on this subject
is so pointed and definite, as to place every ha-
bitual violation of moral duties in complete hos-
tility with the law of Christ. " Whosoever shall
keep the whole law (says St James), and yet of-
fend in one point, he is guilty of all." His
meaning is not, what it is impossible to affirm,
that the guilt of one offence is by itself equally
heinous with the guilt of many : But he asserts,
that the deliberate and habitual violation of one
positive precept of the law, is the same offence
against the authority of the lawgiver as the guilt
of many transgressions *. The apostle John lays
down the same doctrine in terms equally broad
and explicit. " Whosoever is born of God, doth
not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him ;
and he cannot sin (that is, he cannot deliberately
and habitually sin against the positive law of
Christ), because he is born of God. In this the
children of God are manifest, and the children'
of the devil : Whosoever doth not righteousness
is not of God, neither he that lQveth not his
brother f."

* James \i. 10. 11. f 1 John iii. 9. 10.

155 CHRISTIAN FAITH SEK. 5.

No language could express more clearly, or
define more precisely, either the extent or the
inviolable obligation of the Christian law. It
reaches every possible case of duty ; and the fi-
delity which it requires is equally inseparable
from the peculiar character of those who are
placed under it, and from all the hopes and conr
solations which Christianity has given them.
I have mentioned already, under the first
' branch of the subject, the general considerations
by which the gospel professes to enforce our mo-
ral duties ; and the sanctions which it affixes to
its positive precepts. It urges our fidelity to the
law of Christ, and warns us against every devia-
tion from it, by all the considerations which arise
from the character of the human mind, and from
our present interests and conditions in this world.
But the chief considerations which it employs, to
bind our moral duties on our consciences, as the
disciples of Christ, are incorporated with the pecu-
liar dispensation of the gospel. We are urged and
persuaded, by the grace and by the promises of
Christ, by our redemption through his death, by
the hopes which he has given us, by the exqui-

SEU. 5. AND MORALITY. 159

site sufferings which he endured, " when his
soul was made an offering for sin," by the jus-
tice and by " the terrors of the Lord," by " the
holy conversation or godliness," which is the
test of our relation to him " who hath redeemed
us to God by his blood," and by the strict and
minute account which every one of us shall at
last be required to give of his conduct, and of
his state of mind " at the judgment of the great

day."

If these considerations shall not determine any
individual who professes Christianity, to sub-
ject himself steadily and universally to the Chris-
tian law, as the only rule by which he is to
judge and estimate his personal conduct, he is
explicitly declared to be by this circumstance
effectually excluded from the family of Christ,
Whatever his professions are, he has no inte-
rest or portion in the blessings, or in the salva-
tion which the gospel has published to the world.
His character will not abide the test by which
alone it can be tried ; and while he continues in
the same state of mind, " he is far from the
kingdom of God." " If ye love me (said our
Lord), keep my commandments. He that hath

160 CHRISTIAN FAITH SER. 5.

my commandments and keepeth them, he it is
that loveth me*." The apostle John has added,
" He that saith I know Christ, and keepeth not
his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is
not in him; But whoso keepeth his word, in
him verily is the love of God perfected f."

If I have stated fairly the substance, or at least
the spirit of the Christian law, is it possible to
form an idea of a purer, a more enlightened, or
a more forcible morality, which could have been
promulgated to human creatures? Or can we
imagine any thing which could have been add-
ed to the authority which enforces it, or which
could, in any circumstances, have rendered it
more indispensible, than it is in the characters,
or more binding on the consciences of true be-
lievers?

But I have a circumstance still to mention,
of the utmost importance to its efficacy. Those
who abide sincerely by the doctrines of Christ,
are affirmed to be sanctified for the obedience of
his law, by the power of " the Holy Ghost,
shed on them abundantly," We know nothing

• St John xiv. 15. and 21. f 1 John ii. 4. 5.

SER. 5. AND MORALITY. 161

of the manner in which the Spirit of God ope-
rates in promoting or securing the sanctification
of those to whom he is promised. Good men
can only perceive his influence by its effects;
while they are certain that the promise of Christ
is in every instance fulfilled to those who
believe in him. The law of Christ tells them
clearly " how they ought to walk, and to
please God." The Spirit of Christ enables them
tp attain their end. He effectually purifies the
sources and the motives of their conduct, by
what the gospel calls " the washing of regene-
ration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost,"
and by means of " the faith in which they
stand." He gives them help for every duty, and
strength to combat every temptation. " He re-
news them to repentance" when they have fall-
en into a snare : and by his continued influence
on their minds, or on the means of usefulness
afforded them, or on the dispositions or situa-
tions of those who can either help or obstruct
their fidelity, " he furnishes them thoroughly
for every good work" within their sphere of
dutv.

162 CHRISTIAN FAITH SER. 5.

It is impossible not to be sensible of the su-
perior advantage of that morality, which can ef-
fectually persuade a faithful man that he posses-
ses, by the Spirit of Christ, a strength above his
own, which is sufficient to qualify him for eve-
ry duty, which is equal to every difficulty, and
which must be superior to all temptations. He
who truly believes this in his own case, will not
soon be shaken in his resolution " to keep him-
self unspotted from the world." Depending on
himself, he is often made sensible of his weak-
ness. Relying on the promise of Christ, " he
takes to himself the whole armour of God ;" and
" the God of hope fills him with all peace and
joy in believing. " All things are thus made pos-
sible to him who believeth ;" and he will not
shrink from his duty when the day of trial
comes.

We may safely appeal to every man's under-
standing, and to his deliberate reflections, whe-
ther the morality which is without religion, can
bear to be compared with the law of Christ, as
a rule of life, as a test of human character, as the
standard of that which it is right for men either
to do or to shun, or as an efficient guide of our

SER. 5, AND MORALITY. \6$

personal conduct. We may ask, besides, the
most obstinate despisers of the doctrines of
Christ, whether the faith which enforces such a
morality, does not, in spite of the malignity of
the world, " commend itself to every man's con-
science in the sight of God?"

We ought to require nothing more to per-
suade us of the indispensible obligation of those
who believe Christianity, " to stand fast in one
spirit, with one mind, striving together for'' the
practical influence of " the faith of the gospel."

But that this part of the subject may be
brought home to our private feelings, before I
conclude, I beseech you to consider,

1. The indispensible obligation which lies on
every one of us who sincerely believes the gos-
pel, to cultivate earnestly in his own mind,
and to maintain stedfastly in his personal con-
duct, the practical influence of " the faith of
the gospel."

If we are not sanctified by means of the faith
of Christ, " our faith is vain ; we are yet in our
sins." If we are not anxiously solicitous " to
adorn" the faith we have embraced, by purity
of life, by inviolable fidelity in our private du-

l2

164 CHRISTIAN FAITH SER. 5.

ties, by " the labour of love," and by patience
under suffering, we are destitute of that without
which " our faith is dead ;" and every other ob-
ject of our solicitude as religious men, is equally
without advantage and without consolation.

According to the gospel, it is of equal im-
portance to our condition in this world, and
to the hope of eternal salvation at last, that
it shall be the endeavour and solicitude of
our lives, to make a constant, a visible, and a
decided progress to the perfection to which we
aspire, though we have not yet attained it, in god-
liness, in fidelity, in good works, and in patience.
What a glorious ambition is excited among faith-
ful men, when " they strive together with one
spirit," who shall best fulfil his personal duties;
who shall most effectually preserve himself from
the pollutions of the world; who shall be most in
earnest to glorify God in his own place, or " to
do good and to communicate" to those around
him ; who shall best employ the talents entrusted
to him, or most successfully add to them ten talents
more ; who shall learn humility, or self-denial,
or a disinterested spirit, with the most willing

SER. 5. AND MORALITY. 165

mind ; who shall be most in earnest a to watch
and pray, that he enter not into temptation ;"
or, who shall be most solicitous, to give an im-
pressive example to mankind, of the " faith
which worketh by love," and of the " faith
which overcomes the world."

They are happy indeed who are united in
this spirit, " with one mind, striving together"
for, what is certainly and substantially, the prac-
tical influence of " the faith of the gospel."

Consider,

2. How much every one of us has it in his
power to promote or to assist the practical in-
fluence of the gospel on those among whom
he lives.

Let every individual man consider how much
he can do in his own family ; among those
who are influenced by his advice, or interested
by his affection, or allured by his example, or
assisted by his labours, or enlightened by his
knowledge, or profited by his wealth ; or who
may be warned or persuaded by his earnest
admonitions.

It is not easy to represent by words, how

166

CHRISTIAN FAITH SER. 5.

much faithful and conscientious men have done,
in this department of substantial usefulness : and
no man can calculate for himself, how far the
grace of God might extend his usefulness, if,
with good sense and prudence, he were ear-
nestly and habitually to employ the opportuni-
ties which are given him, for the advantage or
for the conversion of other men, or for their in-
struction, or for their edification " in the Lord."
If we use our best endeavours ill our separate
departments, or unite heartily with those Who
can assist us in this " work of the Lord," " we
strive together, in one spirit, and with one
mind," for the best interests of practical religion
among the human race.

I entreat you to consider also,

3. The obligation which lies on faithful men,
to shew to those who do not believe the gospel,
" their work of faith and labour of love," " with
meekness and wisdom."

Pure and exemplary morals are strong argu-
ments indeed, for the " faith of the gospel."
We shall have most success in persuading those
who do not believe, when we bring clearly in-
to their view the practical effects of Christianity,

SER. 5. AND MORALITY. 167

in promoting the best interests of mankind in
this life, as well as in the life to come. We shall
prove to their conviction, how superior the mo-
rality and the faith of Christianity are, to all
the corrupt maxims of the world ; if we can
shew them from difficult or trying cases, how
much purer, and how much more uniform
the life of a Christian is than the conduct of
those, who are either destitute of principle, or
who are not in earnest in professing Christian-
ity.

If good men were united, as they ought to
be, in their endeavours to give this prominent
and practical view of their religion, they would
not often strive in vain for " the faith once de-
livered to the saints." The controversy would
no longer be maintained with regard to the mo-
rality of the gospel, or its salutary influence on
human life ; and the false morality of the world
would not bear to be once mentioned, in com-
parison with the fidelity which is supported by
" the sanctification of the Spirit of Christ," and
" the belief of the truth" revealed by him.

SERMON VI.

ON

THE RESULT OF GOOD AND OF BAD
AFFECTIONS.

ECCLESIASTES, ix. 6.

n Their love and their hatred and their envy is
now perished; neither have they any more a
portion for ever in any thing that is done un-
der the sun."

JL his text gives us a view of the lot of man,
which ought to be as useful as it is humbling.

It is humbling to think, that the strongest af-
fections which have perplexed, or agitated, or
delighted us from our birth, will, in a few years,
cease to have an existence on the earth; and
that all the ardour which they have kindled,
will be as completely extinguished and forgot-

SER. 6\ . OF GOOD AFFECTIONS. 169

ten, as if they had never been. " The wise
and their works are in the hand of God, and no
man knoweth either love or hatred by all that
is before them #."

But when we read this text, we ought to re-
collect, that though every thing in this world
must be transitory, nothing can be uninteresting
of which we shall find the effects or the result
in the world to come. We see " the light of
life" beyond the shades of death. Hatred and
envy shall have their appointed end, when
" God will bring every work into judgment,
with every secret thing." But a " new heaven
and a new earth" rise up also before us, in
which purity and love will predominate for
ever.

We may certainly receive useful instruction
from the general fact affirmed by this text,
that with regard to the interests and affairs of
this world, the best affections and the worst pe-
rish in the grave : especially if we extend our
views to their final result in the kingdom of
God.

• Eccles. ix. 1. ^

170 THE RESULT OF SEB. 6.

Solomon intended to represent opposite cha-
racters by contrary affections. We are at least
entitled to make this supposition, from the dis-
tinction which he has stated at the beginning of
this chapter, betwixt " the righteous and the
wicked; betwixt the clean and the unclean;
betwixt the good man and the sinner ; betwixt
him who sacrificeth, and him who sacrificeth
not; betwixt him that sweareth, and him that
feareth an oath*."

I shall keep this idea in my view ; and stating
the contrary affections separately, shall endeavour
to represent the instruction with regard to each
of them, which we ought to receive from the
doctrine of Solomon,

I. I begin with the description of good men,
" Their love is perished."

The different situations of human life will
give us different views of this idea. Let us,

1. Apply it to parental love; for this is the
first in the order of human affections.

If we have been the children of worthy and
affectionate parents, who are now no more, the

* Eccles. xi. 2,

SER. 6. . GOOD AFFECTIONS. 171

remembrance of their love can never cease to
be interesting. We have pleasure in believing,
that we have derived from them our best quali-
ties, or that we can refer to them our success in
life. We look back with a melancholy satisfac-
tion on their anxieties for us when we had no
care of ourselves ; on their solicitude to protect
or to warn us ; on the affection with which they
supplied our want of experience ; on the looks
of kindness with which they gratified us; on
the instruction and the discipline by which they
endeavoured to form us for the path of life ;
on the fervent prayers by which they purified
them ; on the earnestness with which they spake
to us of duties and of godliness, when they ad-
monished us of the evils to come, and strove to
fortify, or instruct us, by " the labour of love ;"
on the sanguine hopes which they delighted to
indulge, from the progress of our talents, or from
our good conduct or success in the world, or
from our duty and affection to them, or from
our ardour in good works, or from our fidelity
to the God of our fathers.

These are the most useful recollections of the
human mind. It is the law of our nature,

172 THE RESULT OF SER. 6\

that the parents go down to the grave, and
leave their children behind them. But if we
can remember our parents with those happy
impressions of their affection and fidelity, we
have that from them which will interest and
admonish us as long as we live. If we have
been faithful to the influence of parental love, it
will never lose its hold of us.

Why should not each of us examine himself
fairly on the subject?

Has my conduct been at all worthy of the
faithful discipline of my parents ; or of their
earnest admonitions to guide and to bless my
youth ; or of the last impressive prayer which
came from " the love which perished" in the
grave ?

Do I feel the influence still of parental soli-
citude, to restrain me in the hour of temptation ;
or to revive on my conscience my early impres-
sions of godliness and of good works ? Or, am
I conscious that there is a motive to whatever is
pure or estimable, ever returning to my thoughts,
from the sense of my obligation to justify the
hopes, and to be worthy of the examples, which
are now no more ?

SER. 6\ GOOD AFFECTIONS. 173

It is consolatory indeed, to be able to answer
these questions to the satisfaction of our own
minds. If we give thanks to Heaven that those
" whose love has perished" died in faith and pa-
tience, and " commanded their children to keep
the way of the Lord," we must feel that the im-
pressions, to which these questions relate, are
rivetted on our hearts ; and that for the influ-
ence which they preserve on our conduct, we
shall one day answer to God.

Ah ! what shall those men do, who know
that they deliberately trample on the memorials
of parents who loved them in the fear of God ?
The love which lost its influence, before it
could avail them, and of which they must feel
themselves to have been unworthy, though it
perished in the grave, shall rise up at " the
judgment of the great day," to bear witness a-
gainst them, " except they repent." The
thought is deep and awful. If they have any
tenderness of mind, and God hath not forsa-
ken them, it will reach the bottom of their
hearts.

But it is impossible not to feel how much the
recollection of parental love, which recals us

174 THE RESULT OF SER. 6.

to prayer or to penitence, ought to suggest to
other men with regard to the love which has
not yet perished. Their parents admonish them
still, and pray for them. Surely this is the
time to consider how precious the impressions
ought to be of God and of duties, which are
produced by their earnest and affectionate en-
deavours to be faithful to God and to them.
" My son, said Solomon, keep thy father's com-
mandment, and forsake not the law of thv mo-
ther. Bind them continually upon thine heart,
and tie them about thy neck. When thou go-
est, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it
shall keep thee ; and when thou awakest, it shall
talk with thee#."

On the other hand, they ought to know that
the deliberate sacrifice of their first impressions
to the vanities of their youth, or of their age,
is equally unprincipled and irreparable. It is a
perversion never to be forgotten, and which can
seldom, indeed, be compensated.

But it is of great importance to remind those
who are still permitted to enjoy the advantages

* Proverbs vi. 20. 21. 22.

SEN. 6. GOOD AFFECTIONS. 175

of parental love, that their obligation to do their
utmost to acknowledge and to repay them, is as
urgent as it is indrspensible. t( Honour thy
father and thy mother, that thy days may be
long upon the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee*," is the first commandment with
promise f. Those who feel the force of this
obligation, know how much it is in their power
to gladden, by their affectionate attentions, the
parents who love them, and to render their last
days happier than their first. They are con-
scious besides, that if there is any thing which
ought to render a man unhappy all his life, it is
the recollection of an undutiful, ungrateful, and
unworthy conduct towards parents who had
done every thing for him.

The season of filial duty is therefore as pre-
cious as it is honourable. But it passes so
quickly away, that nothing can be more urgent
in the mind of a good man, than the affectionate
requital of parental love, which hastens to die;
and which, before he is aware, will cease to have

* Exodus xx. 12. f Ephes. vi. 2.

176 THE RESULT OF SER. 6.

any more " a place with any thing that is done
under the sun.'*

On this head I suggest besides, that, in con-
templating the ends of parental love, the parents
ought to feel their obligations as forcibly as the
children.

If we consider, for what it is that our chil-
dren will look back on us with respect; for
what they will cherish our memory with ten-
derness ; and what recollections of us will be-
come precious to them; we shall have the
most irresistible conviction of the means by
which we ought to demonstrate our love to
them now, and our fidelity in parental du-
ties.

On the other hand, if we ask ourselves de-
liberately, for what circumstances in our con-
duct our children may hereafter have reason to
reproach us; or what defects in our example,
in our instructions, or in our parental discipline,
may hereafter destroy their reverence for us, we
shall find a motive to fidelity of the most forci-
ble kind, equally supported by the feelings of pa-
rents, and by the faith of the gospel.

SER. 6. GOOD AFFECTIONS. 177

The time is not distant when all {t our love
shall perish." But if we are faithful to God,
and to our children, they will bless and conse-
crate our memory, when our heads are laid in
the dust. Even their posterity may learn some
good thing from them, which we have impart-
ed ; and that happy day at last may come,
when we shall be able to say before the throne
of God, " Behold us, and the children whom
thou hast given us."

This idea naturally directs us to apply the re-
presentation of the text,

2. To filial love.

The affection of children to their parents is
a principle of our nature, not less important than
parental love.

The son ll who honours his father and mo-
ther," and who cherishes for them, not only the
reverence which he owes them, but the watch-
ful solicitude of undissembled affection, repays
an hundred fold their early anxieties for him.
When he makes it the object of his ltfe to pro-
mote their happiness, to prevent their wishes, or
to help their infirmities; when his talents ex-
ceed their expectations, and his dispositions,

M

178 THE RESULT OF SER, &

ripened by his progress into life, are still more
interesting than his talents : they delight to con*
template his success in the world, more than
they have ever enjoyed their own : They regard
the esteem which he acquires, with the honest
and affectionate exultation of parental partiality :
his dutiful affection to them is the resource and
the consolation of their age: and the virtues
which they ascribe to him, dwell on their
thoughts, as often as they bless the God of
their fathers.

When filial love is purified by the spirit of god-
liness, and the ardour of youth is controlled by
the faith which " overcomes the world," the af-
fection of the children goes deeper still into the
hearts of the parents, and has a double effect to
cheer the evening of their days. Every estimable
quality is then added to good affections ; and the
delight which the parents feel, from the continu-
ed expressions of filial love, is incorporated with
every pure and joyful expectation. They look
to their children with complacency, and with
gratitude to God. They delight to dwell on
their personal virtues, as blessings to themselves
above all which they possess besides. They ex-

,ER. 6. GOOD AFFECTIONS. ^79

pect from their dutiful affection, their last con-
solations in this world. And in proportion to
their firm reliance on & the hope of eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord," as they go down to
the grave, they anticipate with delight and ten-
derness the happy time, when they shall see
their children again, in the kingdom of " the
everlasting Father."

There is not a source of human enjoyments
purer in itself, or more inestimable in the pro-
gress of human life, than the affection which
parents receive from their children, already ad-
vancing in the world; or the watchful solicitude
of filial love, to add to their satisfactions, to re-
lieve their anxieties, or to soften their decline.

The children, in the order of nature, survive
their parents, and receive their parting blessing.
But while we possess the satisfactions which we
derive from our children, we are too apt to flat-
ter ourselves, that this must be the fact in our
own experience. We enjoy their society and
their affection, as if they were certain resources
which we are not destined to lose. We form
our plans through life, for their advantage, after
we " shall be gathered to our fathers." And we

M 2

180 THE RESULT OF SEU. 6.

allow ourselves to anticipate a long series of
years, in which we imagine them to reflect ho-
nour on those who gave them birth, and to con-
secrate their memory.

Short-sighted mortals know not what is good
for man ; and know still less, " what a day may
bring forth*." Our children die before our
eyes, and all " their love perishes." We follow
them to the grave, at the moment when we
have had most reliance on their affection ; and
when they had given us the greatest reason to
expect every thing from their talents or their
virtues.

The good pleasure of God has made this hea-
vy affliction not uncommon to men : But it
brings with it the most impressive lesson which
human life affords us, of the vanity of earthly
things.

"We toil and labour for our children; we
heap up wealth to be enjoyed by them : But
when they die, all our schemes are ended ; eve-
ry thing which we have done to render them
rich or prosperous, is buried at once in their un-

* Proverbs xxvji. 1 .

SER. 6\ GOOD AFFECTIONS. 181

timely graves. We become solitary in the world,
at the moment when we believed our prosperity
at its height; and the wealth which we have
accumulated for many years, we know not who
shall scatter.

What a lesson is this against the love of the
world ! Against him " who vexes himself in
vain P Against " the vain shew," and " the
pride of life!" What a striking lesson is it to
those, who think of nothing for their children,
beyond the delights or the distinctions of
mortality ! How irresistible is our persuasion,
when we see the children followed to their
graves by their parents, that riches and prospe-
rity are but secondary things, to the children of
mortal creatures; that nothing can be ultimate-
ly precious to them, which extends not its ef-
fects beyond the grave ; that virtues are beyond
all computation superior to talents ; the genu-
ine faith of the gospel to every other source of
ardour or activity; the well-founded hope of
immortality and salvation by Jesus Christ, to eve-
ry earthly expectation !

The death of the children of others suggests
a striking admonition to those, whose children

182 THE RESULT OF SEll. 6.

are preserved to them. It warns them how they
ought to estimate the expressions of filial love,
while they are continued with them ; how they
ought to cherish them among their most preci-
ous blessings ; how they ought to love their chil-
dren, to assist their ardour, and to reward their
duty ; how much more solicitous they ought to
be, " to lay up for them in store a good foun-
dation against the time to come, that they may
lay hold on eternal life*," than to secure to them
the prosperity or the wealth of the world.

Finally, how precious is the filial love, which
we continue to remember, rather with tender-
ness, than with regret ! How infinitely precious,
if we believe that our children are now with
God; that they were taken from us, to be hap-
py for ever; that " their love" has not " perish-
ed" for ever in the grave; that they will by
and by be our companions again in a better
world, when " the dead in Christ" shall rise to
die no more ; and that their affection for us,
seven times purified, will last as the ages of the
sons of God.

* 1 Tim. vi. $t

SER. 6. GOOD AFFECTIONS. 183

We shall find instruction from the idea ex-
pressed in the text, by applying it,

3. To " the love which perishes" by the
death of the intimate associates of our youth or
of our age.

The pressure on the mind is severe indeed,
when by the will of God we have lost the most
faithful or the most affectionate of our asso-
ciates; those of whom we had conceived the
most delightful expectations ; or those by
whose means we had attained the most solid
advantages for this world or for eternity. But
their memorial is not lost — the memory of their
virtues and of their intellectual endowments—
the memory of their kindness — the memory of
their usefulness to us — or the memory of the
satisfactions which we have enjoyed with them.

There are imperfections which adhere to the
best affections of the human mind. We are
conscious of weaknesses in ourselves, and of de-
fects in those whom we most esteem, which re-
quire a constant and a mutual forbearance ; and
which, to a certain extent, have a perpetual in-
fluence, to interrupt or to lessen the satisfactions,
both of private and of domestic life.

184 THE RESULT OF SEK. 6.

But it is a most important fact, that in recol-
lecting " the love which has perished," all that
was precious in it remains on our thoughts, and
all its imperfections are buried in the grave. It is
that alone which we valued and cherished, which
we remember with tenderness of those who
are now no more. It is their good and estima-
ble qualities alone, which consecrate their me-
morial with us, separated from all the infirmi^
ties which were once united to them.

This fact is important indeed : For it renders
the memorials of love as useful as they are
o-ratifying to those who preserve them. "We re-
member that which was good : wre forget every
infirmity which was attached to it: we dwell
with affection on every advantage and on every
satisfaction which it yielded to us : and its li-
ving impression is rivetted on our hearts. We
feel as if the image of the departed virtues,
pure as the spirits of just men made perfect,
were before us ; and we are still united to them
by " the cords of love."

These recollections, equally solemn and impres-
sive, have a direct tendency both to comfort us
in our sorrow over " those who are asleep," and to
purify our affections during the rest of our pilgri-

Sfclt. 6. GOOD AFFECTIONS. 185

mage. We think of those " who walked with
God ;" and their memorial kindles our abhor-
rence of the pollutions of the world. While it
awakens our ardour " to become followers of
them who through faith and patience inherit the
promises," we think of the spirits departed, who
were once our companions below, as we contem-
plate the angels of God descending to bless our
recollections, and to watch our habitations.

It is precious to our hearts to be persuaded,
that " the love which perished" in the grave^
lives still with " the God of love and peace."
If we have " the faith which is the evidence of
things not seen," we follow by degrees to take
our portion with " the dead in Christ." The
memorial which we cherish, is a pledge of our
progress, and an anticipation of the glory "here*
after to be revealed in us."

Shall it not instruct us, in the mean timfr,
with the most persuasive energy, how to use the
love which remains to us ; how to be faithful
and affectionate to the associates whom God
preserves to us ; how to watch our personal in-
firmities; how to shield our private affections
from their influence ; how to bear with the in~

«18t> THE RESULT OF S£R. &

firmities of others ; how " to keep ourselves un-
spotted from the world."

A little time only can elapse, before all that
we love shall perish, and we ourselves " shall
be gathered to our fathers." But we know that
the love which the Spirit of Christ has sanctified
to bless us in the house of our pilgrimage, liveth
and abideth for ever. " Whether there be pro-
phecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues,
they shall cease ; whether there be knowledge, it
shall vanish away — and now abideth these three
— faith, hope, charity ; but the greatest of these
is charity *."

I have hitherto considered the idea in the text
as applied to the affections of private life. But
if u love and hatred" are here employed to repre-
sent either opposite or general characters, they
must be extended beyond the limited situations
of domestic life. With regard to love in parti-
cular, it may be affirmed with confidence, that till
it goes far beyond these situations, it cannot be
safely received as a test of human characters.

There may be a great display of private af-

* 1 Cor. xiii. 8. 13.

SEll. 6. GOOD AFFECTIONS. 187

fections, where there is neither much principle
nor much generosity of mind. We shall find
men who are perpetually bringing before us
their solicitudes for their children, or for their
personal associates, whose attention can scarcely
be fixed, with any degree of earnestness, on the
conditions or on the concerns of another human
being; and in no instance, in which their private
affections interfere. We shall find them anxious
to display the sensibilities with which they are
endowed, when they almost entirely confine them
to situations, in which their personal satisfactions
are involved.

This is selfishness, and is not love, whatever
garb it may assume. " If ye love them who
love you," said our Lord, " what reward have ye?
Do not even the publicans the same? and if ye
salute your brethren only, what do ye more than
others * r"

The love which can be considered as repre-
senting the characters of the good and of the
pure, is love divested of selfishness. It is an
affection, which even with regard to private du-
ties, represses the ostentation and the selfish

* Matth. v. 46. 47- 48.

188 THE RESULT OF SER. 6,

gratifications of the mind ; and which embraces
besides a far more extensive sphere of duty and
of kindness.

I am therefore to consider the idea in this
text as applied,

4. To the affections which are employed to
promote the general interests and happiness of
human life.

The dispositions which lead men to employ
their talents for the advantage of their fellow-
creatures, and to do them good offices heartily,
without any hope of a requital, create one of the
first distinctions, by which one man can be raised
above another. If they are animated by the
pure and chearful spirit of religion, they form
the most interesting of human characters. The
love which directs us by the sense of duty,
where to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked,
to assist the weak, to comfort the poor, or to
revive the sorrowful ; the love which makes use-
fulness our happiness, and the help of every kind
which we can bring to others our habitual soli-
citude; is " love out of a pure heart," such as
Christ requires and acknowledges,

SER. 6. GOOD AFFECTIONS. 189

When this affection becomes the habit of the
mind, it always finds its objects readily; and,
without departing from its proper sphere, will al-
ways, lead to the means of glorifying God. It
extends to those who need advice or countenance,
as well as to those who are destitute of food and
raiment; to those who require the aid of superior
influence or superior talents, as well as to those
who are pressed down by sorrow ; to the hidden
retreats of ignorance and of misery, as well as to
the opportunities of known and of public useful-
ness. The evil to be redressed, and the good to
be done in any condition, will lie upon the mind
of a good man, as the appointed channel of his
personal duty to God and to men. " Whatso-
ever thine hand findeth to do," said Solomon, " do
it with thy might ; for there is neither work,
nor knowledge, nor device in the grave, whi-
ther thou goest *." " Do it heartily," said an a-
postle, " as to the Lord, and not to men f."

The usefulness of men who live under these
impressions, and who follow them out steadily
and earnestly through life, goes far beyond its

• Fccle?. ix. 10 f Col. iii. 23.

190 THE RESULT OF SEE, 6.

natural or immediate sphere ; by means of
those whom they comfort or assist; and even
beyond the limits of their own lives. But every
thing has its destined period, which depends on
the breath of man. The most useful life is
spent, before we are aware ; and all the kindness
which animated its progress, perishes in the
dust.

The selfish man dies, and we think no more
of him ; or we think of him with more com-
passion than regret j or we remember the art-*
ful guise which his selfishness could put on,
and have nothing better to remember; or we
think of those who fill up his place, and who
cannot be less useful in the world than he has
been.

But " the love which seeketh not her own"
perisheth not " as a fool dieth." It leaves an
impressive and a permanent memorial. When
it is departing, we feel as if a dark cloud had ri-
sen around us, and " we fear as we enter into
the cloud.'* We think with emotion of the
short-lived labours of the most faithful men, and
of the pressure of calamities on the world, when
" they are gathered to their fathers ;" They

SEIt. 6. GOOD AFFECTIONS. 191

who had so great a share in all that was worthy
or respectable around them — They whose hand
was found in every thing, useful or pleasing to
their fellow-creatures.

It is most consolatory to know that such
men have lived, and that they lived not in
vain; that they lived, not for themselves, but
for the glory of God ; that they lived till
their probation was complete, and that their
"works do follow them*;" that they could
finish but the first stage of their existence
among mortals ; but that their spirits, now with
God, in a state of more animated existence than
ever, could they communicate with us still,
would say to us, in our tabernacles below, " Ye
have fully known our manner of life, our pur-
pose, our faith, our charity, and patience fj"
" Be ye followers of us and of the Lord J;" "The
time is short ;" and " the fashion of the world
passe th away||."

They have left us an impressive lesson, if it
reaches our hearts. " We would not haAre you ig-
norant," said an apostle, " concerning them who

* Rev. xiv. 13. f 2 Tim. iii. 10.

$ 1 Thess. i. 6. j| Cor. vii. 29.

102 THE RESULT OF SER. 6.

are asleep, that ye sorrow not as those who have
no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and
rose again, them also who sleep in Jesus will
God bring with him *:" " For God is not un-
righteous to forget their work and labour of
love ; and we desire that every one of you do
shew the same diligence to the full assurance of
hope to the end ; that ye be not slothful, but fol-
lowers of them who through faith and patience
inherit the promises f."

The infirmities which adhere to the present
life are not to be separated, in the best of us, from
human virtues. But the good affections which
predominate, are recorded in heaven. And if
we shall " have our portion with those who have
been faithful unto death," the result of our labours
will also be for a memorial ; and it will be count-
ed to us in our place " at the day of Christ."

I have thus represented the idea of the text as
applied to the good affections of private life, and
to the general kindness of men to men. They
perish in the grave ; but they leave their effects

* 1 Thess. iv. 13. 14. f Heb". vi. 10. 11. 12.

3ER. §4 BAD AFFECTIONS. 193

and their memorials on the earth ; and they will
at last revive, to be perfected in the kingdom
pfGod.

I am now to consider,

II. That the malignant affections produce
as real effects on the affairs of this life, as
those which tend to promote human happi-
ness ; and that after all the disorders and mise-
ries which result from them, they also perish in
the grave, as if they had never been, 'f The
hatred of the wicked," said Solomon, "and their
envy are perished ; neither have they any more
a portion for ever in any thing that is done un-
der the sun."

It is the character which the gospel gives us
of men destitute of principle, that "they live in
malice and envy, hateful, and hating one ano-
ther *." No description can be more exact of
the copdition of those, who follow blindly the
impulse of their worst passions, and who have
neither principles nor affections to restrain them ;
who pursue their own gratifications, iff defiance
of every moral and religious obligation; who
look with a malignant or a jealous eye, on eve-

* Titus iii. 3.

N

194 THE RESULT OF SER. 6.

ry man whom they think happier or more
successful than themselves ; who regard with
indignation or disdain whatever resists and what-
ever reproaches them ; who scruple to commit
no injury which can serve their purpose ; who
hate with bitterness, and who never forgive.

If there is not something good, there is at
least something which is comparatively less ma-
lignant, which mixes with the worst of human
passions : and there is perhaps no character
which is in every aspect and in every point
equally depraved. But when the inveterate
passions of hatred and envy predominate in
those who live together, there is seldom to be
found much to balance or compensate them.
They misinterpret, they reproach, they revile
one another. Viewing every thing with regard
to one another in its worst aspect, to gratify
their malice or revenge they will not only
trample on every principle of duty, but they
will sacrifice to them even their own interests or
their personal comfort; and in some instances
even sources of private enjoyment which no-
thing else would persuade them to relinquish.

The most malignant spirits are restrained by
the condition of human life : the most inve-

SEIl. 6. BAD AFFECTIONS. 1Q5

terate hatred is overawed by the planners and
by the laws which are established : and there
are limits beyond which the worst passions can
seldom go, in the present state of the world.

There are many degrees of hatred and envy.
They are mixed with many different motives
and impressions. There are the shades of bad
passions, which are sometimes seen to unite
even with good affections; and good men them-
selves are on some occasions tempted to com-
mit injuries, or are betrayed into the envy or
malignity of the world.

These facts must not be forgotten. They are
facts which ought to admonish the best of us to
guard our tempers, and " to keep our hearts with
all diligence*:" facts, which teach us, in the
most impressive form, how we ought " to watch
and pray that we enter not into temptation -f."
The least portion of envy or hatred corrupts and
perverts whatsoever it approaches ; and he who
shall but for a moment deliberately allow him-
self to hate his brother in his heart, 'knows not

? Proverbs iv. 23. f Matth, xxvi. 41.

N 2

19® THE RESULT OF SEU. 6.

how far, or how fatally, his passions may per-
vert him.

But Solomon intended, by " the hatred and
envy" of this text, to describe the bad charac-
ters as distinguished from the good; and there-
fore to represent those malignant passions as pre-
dominating. He describes by them, not the in-
firmities, or even the great transgressions, into
which men of real worth are sometimes betray-
ed; but the strong and inveterate passions of
those who have neither principle nor morals ;
passions, which though they may in some in-
stances be restrained by the manners of the
world, or by the accidental interests or contrary
passions of those whom they agitate, maintain
their empire as the ruling or habitual passions of
the heart, in defiance of all the authority of duty
and religion.

What dreadful havoc have they made on the
state of the world ? Why is this man torn from
his friend, or made wretched in his family ? dri-
ven from his home, or blasted in his fame? It
was the hatred of his neighbour which plunged
him in misery ; and his inexorable malignity
which pursued him. He lost the esteem of his

SE&. 6V BAD AFFECTIONS. 197

friend, by the insidious falsehood of an enemy.
He lost bis peace at home, by the strifes which
an enemy prepared for him ; and by wrongs
which admitted of no reparation. An enemy
envied his prosperity, and destroyed it ; and, to
complete the injury, defamed his character, and
was believed.

Why is another man persecuted by a suc-
cession of calamities, apparently unconnected and
remote? It is inveterate malignity which creates
him an enemy on every side ; and which rears
a serpent's head from every thicket.

From whence come the strifes or turbulence
either of public or of private life ? From the ma-
lignity of single men, irritating the passions and
aggravating the contentionsof thiose around them.
The miseries inflicted by means of hatred and en-
vy, no form of words can sufficiently describe.
Their effects to destroy every good affection ; to
pervert men's conduct with regard to every hu-
man interest; to pollute every source of human sa-
tisfaction ; and to agitate every dwelling of hu-
man beings which they are permitted to enter ;
comes minutely home to our deliberate convic-

198 THE RESULT OF SER. 6.

tion, and more or less to every man's feelings
and experience.

But the miseries which bad passions create in
the minds of those in whom they predominate;
are beyond ail the other miseries of the human
race. The most successful malignity is inex-
pressible anguish within the breast of him from
whom it comes. Its victims, wretched as they
may be made by his means; are happy when
compared with himself He cannot but be con-
scious of the unworthiness of his conduct; but
though he steadily resists the reproaches of his
conscience, the inveteracy of his own passions
tears his heart asunder, and leaves him equally
without a comforter, and without a consolation.

But follow hatred and envy to the period to
which Solomon directs us : follow them to the
time when the malignant being; is levelled with
the dead, and when all his turbulence and strifes
are buried in his grave ; when his contentions
and his passions have ceased for ever; and when
he can have no more any influence on the state
of human life. That moment, with regard to
the survivors, is like the calm which follows the

SER. 6. BAD AFFECTIONS. 199

horrible tempest, "when the wicked cease from
troubling, and the weary are at rest." " Ha-
tred and envy have perished," and the world is
in peace. The multitude will forget their suffe-
rings, and the drooping heart will find its conso-
lation, when the malignant spirit is heard no
more. The strifes, the injuries, and the resent-
ments, by which so many have been agitated,
and from which so many can date their miseries,
lose themselves in the tomb, which incloses for
ever the hatred which created them.

Some of the effects of hatred and envy may
certainly last, after their authors are crumbled in-
to dust; and an awful consideration this must
be, to men who think and feel. But it is ever
a consolation to the world, that " hatred and en-
vy, have perished," whatever may survive them.
Another malignant being may arise, and claim
his interest in the strifes which were before him ;
and it may well humble in the dust the most
unprincipled man, as he approaches to death, to
imagine that by his obstinate perversity he has
contributed to perpetuate such a curse upon the
earth : for hatred and envy can have no memo-
rial, but as the image of the infernal spirits, or

200 THE UESULT OF SER. 6.

as the scourge by which they are permitted to
aggravate the miseries of the human race.

But we must follow hatred and envy farther
still, to know their result and end. A wicked
man dies at the appointed time : but his spirit
does not die. Alas ! his place is ready; " To-
phet is ordained of old*;" the place in which
malignant spirits are to d\vell for ever. Hatred,
and strife, and envy are there; " the worm which
dieth not|," the hatred and " the fire which are
not quenched J." All the apostate spirits are
there together ; abhorred, and abhorring one an-
other ; blaspheming the God of heaven, and con-
scious that they are not to be separated for ever.

If this description is founded in truth, the
result of malignity is certain as the unchangeable-
ness of God. Ought it not to make a deep impres-
sion on our consciences, and to compel us to pray ?
" Father of our spirits, suffer us not to be tempt-
ed above what we are able to bear : help us to
govern our spirits, and to purify them : help us
" to fly from the wrath to come."

* Isaiah xxx. 33. f Mark xi« Ut

% Mark xi. 46.

SEk; 6. - BAD AFFECTIONS. 201

Ought it not to reach the hearts of those
who are agitated or governed by hatred and
envy, in demonstration of the Spirit, and of
power? The result of all their malignity falls
at last on themselves; and "except they re-
pent," seals their everlasting doom with the
Worst of the wicked.

If we regard the substantial or permanent hap-
piness of our natures, either in this world, or in
the world to dome, we shall fly from the strifes
around us, as the greatest and the worst of evils.
We shall tremble at the thought of hatred, which
takes away the heart. We shall pray and watch
without ceasing, that amidst all the infirmities of
bur fallen nature, this " sin may not lie upon
us."

It is love, and hove to which no hatred is con-
joined, from which alone even our present sa-
tisfactions are derived. Why, said an envious
spirit, to a happy family; a family who la-
boured to give happiness to those who hated
them ; why are ye so happy, and am I so
wretched ; ye who have so much less prosperity
than I possess? We are happy, they replied, not
from any unusual prosperity in our lot, but be«

v

202 THE RESULT, &C. SER. 6i

cause we have no hatred, or envy, to agitate our
minds, or to pollute our satisfactions.

" I say unto you," said our Lord, " love your
enemies ; bless them who curse you, do good
to them who hate you, and pray for them who
despitefully use you and persecute you j, that ye
may be the children of your father who is in
heaven *."

Wherefore, my brethren, suffer this word of
exhortation ; for this is the law, and the gos-
pel.

* Matth. V. 44. 45,

SERMON VII.

ON

THE INHERITANCE OF A GOOD MAN'S
CHILDREN.

proverbs xiii. 22.

t: A o-oodman leaveth an inheritance io his chil-

drens children *."

Tt is an interesting and indisputable truth, that
the happiness of men depends less on their ex-
ternal conditions than on their personal virtues.
" A oood man is satisfied from himself ;" and

o

* This sermon was preached before the Society incorporated
by royal charter, for the benefit of the Sons of the Clergy of
the Church of Scotland, May 29- 1792.

The coincidence of the illustrations contained in it with the
subject of the preceding sermon will be obvious to every
reader ; but did not appear to the author to be a sufficient rea-
son, to prevent its re-publication in the present volume. If it
shall contribute to attract the attention of any individual to the
institution which gave occasion to its first publication, he will not
think it has been improperly inserted ; and allows himself to
believe, that his readers will consider it rather as a continuation
of the subject of the preceding sermon, than as a repetition of
the sentiments which it contains.

204 THE INHERITANCE OF SER. 7»

peace of conscience and trust in God are more
precious blessings than all the wealth of the
world.

This is the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ*
who came down from heaven to bless mankind
and to save them. " Blessed are the poor in
spirit — blessed are they that mourn — blessed are
the meek — blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness — blessed are the
merciful — blessed are the pure in heart— blessed
are the peace-makers — blessed are they which
are persecuted for righteousness sake*." He
represents the characters of good men, by the
virtues or dispositions which distinguish them
in different situations ; and pronounces them
" blessed" in all the conditions of human life.
" The kingdom bf God is righteousness, and
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost f."

But besides the personal happiness which a
good man enjoys, this text affirms that the ef-
fects of his habits are transmitted to his children,
and even to their descendants. Though he has
neither wealth nor rank to convey to them,

• Math. v. 1—10. f Rom.xiv. 17<

SER. 7. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 205

they derive from his character a sufficient and a
permanent inheritance. Solomon refers chiefly
to the prosperity of this life : and contrasting
the advantages which " a good man leaves to his
children's children," with the uncertain tenure
of riches possessed without principle or morals,
he affirms, that " the wealth of the sinner is laid
up for the just*." The providence of God
smiles on the industry and virtue of a good
man's children, and leads them on to prosperity
and wealth; while the families of unprincipled
men, entering into life without the advantages
of early culture, are too frequently degraded by
their misconduct from the condition which they
have inherited from their fathers.

I shall first consider the doctrine of the text,
and then the practical conclusions which it sug-
gests to us.

I. The instruction of a good man is an inheri-
tance to his children.

Our happiness, and even our prosperity in the
world, depend more on the culture of o'ur youth
than on all the external advantages which can

* Prov. xiii. 23.

206 THE INHERITANCE OF SER. 7,

belong to our conditions. The habits which :»

js

y oung man acquires under his father's eye, are
the foundations of his character. He who has
trained his son " in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord," to godliness, and truth, and jus?
tice, and fidelity ; who has taught him to restrain
his temper, and to govern his tongue ; to subject
his interest to his duty, his passions to his con-
science, his inclinations to his understanding .
leaves him in possession of the most permanent
advantages of human life. Whatever his condi-
tion may be, he has the means of prosperity in
his hands ; and the most certain sources of satis-
faction in the enjoyment of whatever he acquires.
Even talents are subordinate to virtues ; and
good affections are of more importance in human
life than the most splendid ornaments of an un?
principled mind.

It is not in every man's power to add to the
habits on which the religious and moral charao
ter depends, the principles of liberal knowledge,
and the views of a liberal mind. But he who
has done this, sends his children into the world
with those precious endowments, without which
the wealth of the rich serves only to render

SER. 7. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 207

them more conspicuously contemptible or un-
happy.

Men of the same worth are not equally qua-
lified, for the duties of parental tuition, and
their children have not the same advantages.
But there is a minuteness and an affection in the
paternal care of a good man, which supplies the
want of many talents ; an earnestness and a pu-
rity of design, which is consecrated in the minds
of his children, and leaves indelible impressions.
They venerate his intentions, even where his
judgment has failed him. They look back on
his solicitude and on his faithful admonitions,
with an affection and reverence which the suc-
cession of years does not destroy. In their
struggles betwixt principle and temptations, they
hear his voice from the tomb ; and if they per-
sist in the path of duty, or are successful in the
pursuits of life, it is their pride and their conso-
lation, that they reap the fruits of his paternal
labours and of his last instructions.

II. The example of a good man is an inheri-
tance to his children.

The character of a father lies at the founda-
tion pf his influence, and the effect of his pater-

<20S THE INHERITANCE OF SER. 7»

nal solicitudes depends on it. His habits are
his most successful admonitions ; and the exam-
ples of religion and probity which his children
receive from the general tenor of his temper and
conduct, are his most permanent instructions.
He who has gone before his children in the path
of duty, and has shewn them in his own con-
duct the effects of godliness and of integrity in
practice, leaves on their minds impressions of his
character, which remain with them, through life,
and which interest and determine them in the
most trying situations. If he has convinced
them that he derives his motives and his conso-
lations from the sincerity of his faith; that he
allows no competition to be in his mind betwixt
the praise of men, and the approbation of God j
betwixt " the wages of iniquity," and " the
testimony of a good conscience ;" betwixt the
considerations of selfishness, or the pride pf life,
and the opportunities of being useful to other
men, or the " labour of love," and pf good
works; betwixt the utmost gratifications of
pleasure or ambition, and the substantial satis-
factions which arise from purity of mind: if he
has given these impressions of his character to

SEK. 7. A OOOD MAx's CHILDREN. 209

his children, his example does more to deter-
mine their habits than his best instructions. —
They remember him with tenderness and awe,
when sinners entice them : They think of him
with an honourable pride, when their conduct is
worthy of his character and of his hopes : When
his head is laid in the dust, they cherish his me-
mory, to stimulate and to guide them in the path
of duty : And after they have been long accus-
tomed to think and to act for themselves, they
trace back to the effects of his example both
their prosperity and their virtues.

Even those who have lost their fathers before
they could reap the benefit of their example,
hear of their virtues with a generous ardour, as
precious memorials transmitted to them, which
ought to influence their conduct, and from which
they derive a personal distinction. The living
example given by a good man to a dutiful son,
furnishes him with practical lessons to enforce
the instructions of his youth, to teach him the
application of principle to conduct, and' to form
both his views of life and his habits of act-
ing. They are sealed on his heart by his filial
affection, and he cherishes the remembrance of

?

210 THE INHERITANCE 01- SER. 7.

them as the foundations of his character. Even
a degenerate son feels the awe of his fathers vir-
tues. They operate early as a restraint, and
have more influence than is always seen. Some-
times, too, by the grace of God, they operate at
a later period, to convince him, when he lias
been perverted, how far and how fatally he has
erred.

There are certainly defects in all human cha-
racters, which render our best examples to our
children very imperfect; and errors, adopted in
practice, must be admitted to have more perni-
cious consequences, than the worst defects of ge-
neral instruction. But it will be observed, that
the habitual errors of a good man are not vices,
and that defects or infirmities prevent not the
influence of substantial virtues. It is of more
importance to add, that it is agreeable to the laws
of Nature and Providence, or is a consequence
of their influence, that the defects of a father
should be separated in the minds of his chil-
dren from his better qualities. They do not al-
low themselves to dwell on his infirmities, though
they are not ignorant of them; and from the
habits of filial love, they lose the recollection of

SEU. 7. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 211

them. But their imaginations and their affec-
tions consecrate the memory of his virtues.

The best advantages may undoubtedly be
lost; and success in life is not always the effect
of the most probable means of attaining it.
There are exceptions to the intluence of every
general cause of prosperity which can be men-
tioned, arising from the perversion of indivi-
duals, or from the wise and unalterable ar-
rangements of Providence. But it is certain, on
the other hand, that the characters which are
formed by the faithful instruction and pure ex-
amples of good men, are accompanied with ad-
vantages to those who possess them, both for
the duties and for the happiness of active life,
which nothing else, which they inherit from their
fathers, can confer on them. Virtue and pro-
bity, cultivated into confirmed habits, if there are
any talents united to them, are the best securities
for the iidelity, the industry, the reputation, and
the success, which place men in prosperous con-
ditions. Every wise man regards them as solid
and permanent advantages, and labours to trans-
mit them to his children; and even unprincipled
men feel their importance, though their person-

O 2

212 THE INHERITANCE OF SER. 7*

al characters deprive them of the means of con*
veying them.

III. The care and protection of Providence
are an inheritance to a good man's children.

A good man will neglect none of the means
which his situation affords him, to qualify his
children for the business and the duties of life, and
to promote their prosperity in the world. But
while he uses his utmost endeavours for their
advantage, his chief dependance is on Provi-
dence. He commits his children to God. He
expects from him the protection and prosperity,
of which no human foresight can assure them.
This is a certain and perpetual resource. His
paternal labours are sanctified by prayer. The
solicitudes of a father give place to the faith of a
Christian. He relies on the records of inspira-
tion, illustrated by the experience of all the
ages; and commends his children to the God
of his fathers, assured of his faithful promise:
" Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve
them alive *." " The mercy of the Lord is from e-
verlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him,
and his righteousness unto children's children f ."

* Jercm. xlix. 11. f Psalm ciii. 17«

5ER. 7. A GOOD MAn's CHILDREN. 2l3

" When my father and my mother forsake me, then

the Lord will take me up*." " I have been young,

and now am old, yet have I not seen the risrht-

eous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread f"

The prayer of paternal love is not warranted or

encouraged in vain by these indelible records :

" The promise is to us and to our children ;"

and the children of the faithful are holy as the

heritage of the Lord. The prayers of a devout

man, purified by faith and by good works, are

remembered before God, for the children whom

he has given him.

It is a law of Providence, which was incorpo-
rated with the first written law delivered to the
world, that God " shews mercy to thousands of
them that love him," and to their children after
them; and we have good reason from experi-
ence to believe, that for the sake of faithful men
he has compassion even on the wicked and the
hardened. This law is written on the hearts of
the people, so as to render them conscious of the
claims of a good man's family when their con-
dition is understood, and to interest in their

* Psalm xxvii. 10. f Psalm xxxvii. 25.

214 THE INHERITANCE OF LLU. 7«

prosperity even those to whom they are not
known.

The testimony of ages shews that this law has
its full effect, and warrants the confidence with
which devout men commit their children to God.
The history of human life is the record of Pro-
vidence ; and it is not the least interesting volume
of this record, which contains the events hy which
Providence has raised up the children of the
faithful beyond all the hopes of their fathers.

One man sends forth his children into the
world without wealth and without friends, with
no advantages but the instruction he has gi-
ven them, and his blessing, and his prayers :
and the hand of the Lord is with them; and
they prosper in their honourable labours ; and
they gain the esteem and confidence of stran-
gers; and God raises up a friend when they need
his help; and the course of unforeseen events
opens to them a succession of new resources ; and
they reach a condition to which they were not
born; and they return with wealth and honour
into the bosom of their father's house; and he
lives still, to give thanks to the God of his fathers ;
and his latter days are happier than his first.

SEIi. 7. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 215

Another man has only lived to embrace
his children, and to commend them to God.
They are helpless infants, cast on the care
of Providence ; but they are chosen to be
eminent examples of the faithfulness of God.
He raises up men of different views and cha-
racters to fulfil to them the duties of a father.
By their means they enjoy more liberal advan-
tages than their parents could have given them ;
and even the circumstance which has deprived
them of the benefits of paternal care, is used by
Providence to assure them of the means of pros-
perity. They become more the objects of at-
tention, than they would have been in their ori-
ginal situation. They enjoy opportunities of
exertion and success, from which a more pros-
perous beginning would have naturally excluded
them. If they experience the help of their fa-
ther's friends, they are as often indebted to the
kindness of a stranger. They are able at last to
bring forward one another, and to be useful to
other men. And they remember toget.her, with
affection and reverence, the virtues and the pray-
ers of a father, which Providence has consecra-
ted as " an inheritance" to them.

216 THE INHERITANCE OF SI:ll. 7,

The conduct of Providence in similar cases,
is too much diversified to be represented in de-
tail. But if we shall look into the various de-
partments of human life, and consider by whom
they are occupied ; if we shall recollect the his-
tory of the worthy, the active, the prosperous*
the opulent men ; we shall find that no small
proportion of them have been the children of
Providence. We shall see among them men
who have derived nothing from their fathers but
the effects of paternal virtues; men who have
been brought forward by the help to which
they were conscious of no claim* and of which
they had no natural expectation ; men who have
been indebted to events which are denominated
the accidents of life, which, though unforeseen
by men, are the decrees of God ; men who
have found patronage and protection where they
least expected them, and at the most critical sea-
sons, and whose success has exceeded all their
computations; men who look back with com-
placency on the humble sphere in which their
fathers served God, " in the labour of love"
and of good works, and who have the pure sa-
tisfaction of believing, that " their prayers and

SEIi. 7. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 217

their alms have come up before God, as a me-
morial *" for them.

We do not always acknowledge the agency
of Providence in the events of which we can
trace the second causes ; and we enjoy our pros-
perity without reflecting on the source of it.
But the influence of God on the circumstan-
ces which regulate our lot, is real and perpe-
tual, amidst all the irreligion and incredulity of
the world. Though we do not reverence the
hand that guides us, " he is faithful who hath
promised f ;" and " though we believe not, he
abideth faithful $."

The plan of Providence is not so uniform, as
to render it certain that the children of good
men will be always prosperous. The general
laws which influence human affairs are not sus-
pended for the benefit of individuals; and their
own misconduct often determines their condi-
tions. The children often suffer from the im-
proper management of their early education,
originating not from the intentions, but from the

• Acts x. 4. f Heb. x. 23.

1 2 Tim. ii. 13.

218 THE INHERITANCE OF SEll. 7.

mistakes of their parents. The moral discipline,
too, which they require, and the purposes which
Providence has chosen them to accomplish, are
often inconsistent with the prosperity which
they do not attain.

But with all these exceptions, of which we
can easily perceive the extent, there is a suffi-
cient number of facts, established by the expe-
rience of many generations, and obvious to the
attention of every devout mind, to illustrate the
general doctrine, that the children of a good man
are objects of the peculiar care and protection of
Heaven ; that while he uses his best endeavours
to promote their prosperity, he is justified by
experience in the confidence with which he re-
signs their lot to God ; that Providence is to
him a source of which no situation can de-
prive him, and is the chief inheritance of his
children.

We can see the families of unprincipled men
suffering the consequences of their depravity,
and by the course of events, as well as by their
own misconduct, falling from the condition in
which their fathers had placed them. The pro-
vidence of God scatters the accumulations of ava-

SER. 7. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 219

rice and violence, and, according to the language
of the Mosaical law, M visits the iniquities of the
fathers upon the children, unto the third and
fourth generations*." But the effects of virtue
and probity are permanent ; and, amidst all the
variety of pursuits and conditions which distin-
guish the children of good men in this world,
they reap the blessing of their fathers after ma-
ny days. I add,

IV. That the kindness of faithful men is an
inheritance to a good man's children.

With all the advantages with which a father
can send his children into the world, their suc-
cess must in a great measure depend on the as-
sistance and the friendship of other men; and
the purposes of Providence in their favour are
accomplished, by means of those whom God
raises up to assist, or to guide them. But the
hearts of men, as well as the course of events,
are in the hands of God ; and he selects the in-
struments of his purpose from all the variety of
human characters. The selfish, the envious, the
deceitful, the profligate, are subservient to him ;

* Exod. xx. 5.

2£0 THE INHERITANCE OF SEIi. 7.

and furnish (often indeed from bad motives, and
as often without intending it), both the occasions
and the means, by which the children of Provi-
dence reap the inheritance of their fathers. But
the kindness of men who are themselves guided
by principle, to the children of those who were
faithful while they lived, is a department of du-
ties which belong to their proper characters, and
which are enforced by the spirit and by the laws
of religion. This is one of the most interesting
forms in which one good man can meet the af-
fections of another, or acknowledge the relation
which unites them. The protection given to
the children, is more than friendship to their fa-
ther. It is the disinterested homage due to pu-
rity of principle and to good works, or it is the
active testimony of an upright mind to the me-
mory of departed virtues. " Whosoever," said
our Lord, " shall do the will of my Father who
is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister,
and mother *'." The satisfaction of contributing,
from a sense of duty, to repay to the children
the godly sincerity of the father, and his con*

• Math. xii. 5&.

SER. 7. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 221

tentmcnt, and his " labour of love," is a pledge
to a man himself that his own mind is pure. It
is love to a disciple, " because he belongs to
Christ*." It is the " charity, which is the end
of the commandment, out of a pure heart, and
a good conscience, and faith unfeigned f." We
owe the offices of humanity to men of all cha-
racters and kindreds, as the children of that God
" who hath made of one blood all the nations
of men f and the spirit of active benevolence
which Christianity has spread among the na-
tions, and which has at least as much energy
among the men of the present time, as it had in
any former age, is a permanent barrier raised
up by the Son of God, for the protection of the
helpless and the orphan, in all the situations of
human life. But the benevolent attentions which
we owe to the families of good men, besides the
obligations they derive from the considerations
of humanity, are enforced by Christianity (like
every thing else which belongs to " the love of
the brethren") as the test of vital religion in our-
>elves ; as the pledge of our union to " the

* Mark ix. 41. i I Tim. i. 5.

222 THE INHERITANCE OF SER. 7.

household of faith," and of our relation and fi-
delity to Him " who is the head over all things
to the church," and " who gathers together in
one the children of God." "We know," says
the apostle John, " that we have passed from
death to life, because we love the brethren * ;"
and " inasmuch," says our Lord, " as ye have
done" a kindness " to one of the least of these
my brethren, ye have done it unto mcf." It is
an idea which has a peculiar energy in the mind
of a man whom " the love of Christ constrains,"
and whom the law of Christ determines, that
his affection to the children shall be a pledge of
his union to their father in " the household of
God," and of his relation to their Master and
his. Our children are more precious to us than
all the prosperity of human life; and it must be
strong consolation to a father's heart, to believe
that a memorial for his family is written on the-
conscience of every man " who loves our Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity." To the children, it
is an inheritance " better than the riches of ma-
ny wicked," on which they have a right to re-

* 1 John iii. 14. + Matth. xxv. 40.

SER. 7. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 223

]y, iii proportion to the progress of practical
Christianity among men, and to the power of
the doctrines of Christ over the minds of the
faithful.

The obligations which I have represented are
indisputable. And though, from the imperfec-
tion of human virtues, and our imperfect know-
ledge of one another, the effects of our attention
to the children of good men may not be as ex-
tensive as they ought to be, I trust and believe,
by the gospel of Christ, that when " the redeem-
ed of the Lord shall be gathered," and the fa-
thers, and the children, and the benefactors, shall
be assembled together, this branch of fidelity
shall not be found the least in the kingdom of
Clod. With the best intentions, our judgment
may mislead us ; but that which is " done to a
disciple, in the name of a disciple, shall in no
case lose its reward."

" A good man leaveth an inheritance to his
children's children.'" If the doctrine of this
text has been in any degree illustrated, it is ea-
sy to see, how the inheritance of the sons be-
comes the portion of their children. The same

224 THE INHERITANCE OF SER. J.

general characters, as well as the effects of the
prosperity of individuals, are transmitted through
many generations. Every man must have ob-
served, that the dispositions of the ancestor are
found in his descendants ; and that a man who
perseveres in the habits to which his fathers have
formed him, teaches them successfully to his
children after him. It is not less obvious, that
the virtues of a family will often prevail against
the vices of an individual. They will save him
from the degradation which his misconduct has
deserved, and they will rescue his children from
the effects of his example. The prosperity of
many families is known to be preserved through
successive generations, long after they have lost
the virtues of their ancestors ; and though there
are many other rules by which the wisdom
of God determines the lot of men, a devout
man will often find reasons for believing, that
the indulgence of Providence, continued to un-
worthy individuals, is to be traced to the me-
mory of those who were before them, and to
the covenant of the Lord in behalf of their de-
scendants.

It is one of the most forcible considerations

SER. ?. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 225

which can animate the efforts of a benevolent
mind, that the small but faithful offices of kind-
ness done to the child of a good man, may, by
God's providence, and according to his faithful
promise, become the means of transmitting* vir-
tue and prosperity through successive genera-
tions.

I have said all that I proposed on the doc-
trine of the text. Let us now attend to the prac-
tical conclusions which it suggests to us. The
extent of the subject is beyond the limits of one
discourse; and I must confine myself to the
most obvious remarks, without attempting to
pursue them.

1. The doctrine suggests to every father, his
indispensible obligation to give to his children
the inheritance of the faithful.

Their happiness and prosperity depend more
on his personal habits, than on all his industry
and wealth. The unprincipled manners of a fa-
ther deprive his children, not only of the best
advantages of paternal love, but of the substantial
effects of paternal virtues. Their consequences
to himself reach from this life to the life that ne-
ver ends j and their pernicious influence on the

326 THE INHERITANCE OF SER. f.

character and condition of his family, may be
extended through distant generations. On the
other hand, the tenderness of parental affection
adds the most animating considerations to the
obligations of our faith, and of our moral duties.
The most important interests of our children
depend on the habits and dispositions, which they
shall derive from us. If we shall be faithful to
God and to them, we may live to enjoy their
virtues and their prosperity; or if Providence
shall deny us this satisfaction, we shall at least die
in peace, leaving them with confidence to the
<3od of their fathers; and our names will be
remembered with esteem and honour among
their descendants.

% The doctrine should teach the children of
good men, with how much anxiety they ought
to preserve the moral and religious advantages
which they have received from their fathers.

It is their indispensible duty to maintain the
character of their father's house, that their poste-
rity may inherit the blessing, which has come
down to them; to possess, with gratitude to
God, the prosperity which he has given them

SER. 7. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 237

for the sake of their fathers ; to give examples
of godliness, of fidelity, and of good works,
worthy of the race of which they are descended ;
and that the name and the inheritance of their
fathers may he permanent, as " he is faithful
who hath promised," " to command their chil-
dren, and their household after them, to keep
the way of the Lord, to do justice and judg-r
ment." There are no advantages which may
not be abused and forfeited ; and the perversion
of the children of faithful men, while they enjoy
the effects of the virtues of their ancestors, has
peculiar aggravations. I add,

3. That the doctrine ought to satisfy every
conscientious man, of his personal obligations to
contribute to the utmost of his power, to ensure
to the children of good men the inheritance be-
queathed to them by their fathers.

It is by means of the services and of the help
which men receive from one another, that the
designs of Providence are accomplished; And
when we embrace, with simplicity of heart, the
opportunities which are within our sphere, to
guide the industry or to assist the exertions of a
£oqd man's family, we fulfil an important branch

f 2

228 THE INHERITANCE OF SEll. 7»

of our personal duties, and are " fellow-work-
ers together with God." Our usefulness is not
limited by the particular advantages which indi-
viduals derive from us, but extends to the dis-
tant consequences of their virtue and prosperity
in the world.

Every man can discern the opportunities of
being useful in this department of duty, which
arise out of his own situation ; and how far he
ought in every instance to embrace them, must
be left to his understanding and his conscience.
No man's condition allows him to do all the
good which might be done, or to give all the
help which the families of worthy men require.
It is an object, as much of duty as of prudence,
to select the cases, in which our endeavours will
be most productive, and in which the means we
possess will be most effectual to fill up our por-
tion of " the labour of love."

It is obvious, that those who have been de-
prived of their parents in their infancy, and who
have been cast on the care of Providence, with-
out culture and without wealth, have peculiar
claims on our beneficence. Their helpless con-
dition, added to their father's prayers and alms,

SER. 7. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 229

are irresistible arguments with a faithful and be-
nevolent mind.

But a father, from whom his children receive
the benefit both of instruction and example, is
often prevented, by his want of wealth, from
bestowing on them those liberal advantages,
which are suited to their talents, and to the rank
which he holds in society. In this case, much
good may be done at a little expence, by the
wise and affectionate counsel of those, who are
more conversant than himself in the business of
the world; or by their patronage, or by a small
assistance given at a proper season, and in a form
suited to his condition.

Though those who enjoy prosperity, and
have no families to share it, can do more than
others, the circumstances of human life allow
few individuals to take on themselves the charge
of other men's children. But the united exer-
tions of benevolent men can accomplish ends,
to which their separate endeavours are unequal.
Public institutions, for the purpose of e'nsuring
to the young, the inheritance which they de-
rive from their fathers, collect into one channel
the counsels and beneficence of individuals,

230 THE INHERITANCE OF SER. ?;

whose means of usefulness in this department
are too limited, to produce any considerable ef-
fects in private life. The poor widow casts in
her mite, with the rich who make an offering
to purify their wealth. The silent beneficence
which shuns the light, is added to the effects of
public liberality, without departing from the
path of " alms which are done in secret."
And rich men who die, conscious that during
the course of their prosperity, they have neglect-
ed the good works which they might have done^
can leave an offering behind them, worthy of
their last impressions, to help the unhappy and
the fatherless in the world.

I do not pretend to give a full enumeration
of cases, which every man's understanding and
his heart may suggest to him. I have made
these observations, because they coincide precise-
ly with the objects of the benevolent institution,
which gives occasion to this annual meeting.

" The Society for the benefit of the Sons of
the Clergy of the established Church of Scot-
land," was instituted at Edinburgh in the begin-
ning of February 1790. Its general object is>
to form a permanent fund, by means of sub*

§ER. 7. A GOOD MANS CHILDREN. 231

scriptions, donations, bequests, or contributions,
the annual revenue of which, shall be applied
to assist the sons of ministers of the established
Church of Scotland, in acquiring the education
which is suited to the rank which their fathers
hold in the country, and those professional qua-
lifications which are necessary to bring them for-
ward into active employments. The advanta-
ges of the institution are to be extended, without
limitation, to every district of the kingdom, and
to young men intended for any active profession.
No distinctions can be made, but such as are ne-
cessary, in discriminating the circumstances of
those who expect the aid of the Society, and in
the impartial selection of cases, in which the
greatest good can be done at the least expence.
Other advantages, besides pecuniary aid, may be
expected from the united endeavours of the re-
spectable men whom this institution has associa-
ted, who have no other object than to be useful
to the children of ministers; and who pledge
themselves to the public, to embrace every op-
portunity to assist their talents, and to promote
their success in life. The benefits which indi*
viduals derive from the institution, will not be

232 THE INHERITANCE OF SElt. 7.

confined to themselves, but in their consequen-
ces will reach every member of their father's fa-
milies, whom their prosperity or their exertions
can assist.

The Society have confined their first atten-
tion to the sons of the clergy. But they have
reserved power to themselves, when the increase
of their capital shall render it prudent, to ex-
tend a similar assistance to the daughters of mi-
nisters, to enable them also to acquire the ad-
vantages arising from useful employments.

They have the best reasons to be assured, that
the general design has received the approbation
of the public. From the first day of the insti-
tution, two years ago, their funds have been gra-
dually increasing. A very considerable addition
lias been made to them, since the last annual meet-
ing : And since that period, too, his Majesty has
been pleased to grant his royal charter, constitu-
ting the Society a legal corporation; which, be-
sides the authority which it gives to the institu-
tion, entitles them to hold property in the coun-
try, and to receive legacies, bequests, and dona-
tions, according to the benevolence of the public.

It has been an object of their utmost atten-

>V.R. 7. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. c233

tion to secure the purity of management, and
the faithful and impartial application of the funds
of the Society ; and they persuade themselves,
that the precautions which have been taken, will
not be ineffectual. They trust in the providence
of God, that the objects, which they have in
view, will be secured by their perseverance, and
by the continued favour of the public; and
they have the greatest encouragement, in observ-
ing the many prosperous institutions of bene-
volence around them, which have risen, from
small beginnings, into useful and permanent
establishments.

I think it unnecessary to say more. Every
thing else which belongs to the subject, will be
found in the printed accounts of the Society.

The livings of the clergy of this church are
known to be inadequate, both to the condition
of the country, and to the importance of their
rank and office among their fellow-citizens. No
body of men, consisting of the same number,
have better supported their reputation for purity
of morals, or faithful labours, for liberal know-
ledge, or public usefulness, or for private and
domestic virtues : and I am persuaded I speak

234 THE INHERITANCE, &C. SER. 7«

both to your understandings and to your affec-
tions, when I add, that, from the general cha-
racter which they must be allowed to possess,
their children are well entitled, among their
brethren, to reap the inheritance of the faithful.
Now, may the Lord God of heaven and
earth, and Jesus Christ, " the great Shepherd of
the flock," bless and prosper this institution, for
the sake of our brethren, and of the children
who are born to them, and of many generations
after we shall be gathered to our fathers.

SERMON VIII.

Oft

THE DOCTRINE OF GRACE.

ROMANS V. 20.

— " Where sin abounded, grace did much more
abound?

There is in this chapter a striking descrip-
tion of the original fall of man, and of our
final restoration. The effect of Adam's disobe-
dience to entail guilt and misery on his descen-
dants, is stated in opposition to the efficacy of
the great redemption, accomplished by the obe-
dience of Jesus Christ. And this text repre«
sents, in contrast, the effects of the general per*
version, or its progress in the conduct of indivi-
dual sinners, and of " the grace" which effectu*
ally renovates and restores us.

236* THE DOCTRINE SER. 8.

The term " grace" signifies, in general, the
undeserved kindness of God, united to the pow-
er which renders it effectual to attain its end :
And the text affirms, that in all its different
forms and aspects, " the grace of God," to those
who receive it, has far exceeded the measure
and the effects of their perversion.

I shall suggest illustrations of this doctrine, as
it relates to the state of mankind, or is applied to
individuals ; and, with this view, shall consider
" the grace of God," in contrast with the guilt
and the depravity, with the miseries, with the
mortality, and with the final perdition, which
are represented in the Scriptures as the conse-
quences of man's apostacy from his Creator.

" The grace of God abounds" even to those
who persist in hardening their hearts against his
authority. They experience his forbearance and
his tender mercies, under every aggravation, and
in every period of their impenitence. The gos-
pel, which contains the doctrine of redemption
hy Jesus Christ, its impressive warnings, its ear-
nest admonitions, and the glorious prospects held
out to those who turn from sin to God, are all
addressed to them ; although they continue to

SEK. S. OF GRACE. 237

resist every good impression made on their minds,
and render the most important information in-
effectual, by their obstinate incredulity.

13 lit it is evident, that while the apostle, on
the one hand, directs our thoughts, by the text,
to the general effects of the apostacy from God
on the condition of mankind ; on the other
hand, in representing " grace as abounding more
than sin," he refers exclusively to the situations
of those, to whom the gospel is effectually
preached, and who " believe to the saving of their
souls." " They receive not the grace of God in
vain *." The effects and the dominion of sin
are both completely and finally destroyed, by
" the grace which bringeth them salvation, and
hath appeared unto all men." " Grace abounds"
to them, and predominates in their experience,
" much more than sin;" for they are effectually
" turned from darkness unto light, and from the
power of Satan unto God f." Sin brought
death and every other evil on the earth. But
the dominion of grace is far greater,, when it
not only secures, to those who believe and obev

■ 2 Cor. vi. i. | Acts xxvi. 18.

238 THE DOCTRINE SER. 8,

the gospel, a state of being as happy as that
which was forfeited by the apostacy of man, but
effectually puts them in possession of " eternal
life" among the angels of God, who " have kept
their first estate." This is precisely the illustra-
tion wich the apostle has given us of the asser-r
tion in the text : " Where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. Sin reigned unto death i
Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal
life, by Jesus Christ our Lord *."

Keeping this idea in our minds, that it is
" grace" effectual to attain its end, which the
apostle has stated, in contrast with the effects
which sin has produced on the condition of the
world,

Let us consider,

I. The guilt and depravity of men.

" By one man sin entered into the world f ;%
and " by his disobedience, many were made sin-
ners J."

This is no speculation which we may contro-
vert or reject. Asserted in the gospel, it is a

* Romans v. 21. f Romans v. 12.

£ Romans v. 1$,

SEK. 8. OF GRACE. 23<)

melancholy fact, engraven on the consciences of
mankind, and on the history of ages.

The guilt which, from the earliest time, has
overspread the face of the earth ; or the depra-
vity which adheres to every country, and to eve-
ry condition of human life; no man, who is
capable of deliberate reflection, will find it pos-
sible to deny. The vices which debase the most
ignorant and barbarous people, and the vices
which spring up and multiply, with the arts of
society, and with the luxuries of mankind : the
imbecility of men in every situation of human
nature, with regard to their moral and religious
obligations; the weakness of those who find
temptations every where around them ; of those
who, even in resisting temptations, have perpe-
tual struggles to maintain; and of those whom
successive temptations overwhelm with every
aggravation of guilt and ruin : the probation,
the discipline, the penitence, il the washing of
regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy
Ghost*," which Christianity, adapting itself to
the state of our minds, universally prescribes and

* Titus iii. 5.

240 THE DOCTRINE SEIt. 8.

requires : and the visible characters of the moral
government of God, impressed on the whole
series of external events — are facts in the state
of the world, which hold out to us irresistible
demonstrations, that the original fall was the fall
of the human race; and that guilt and depravity
are in every age, since the first transgression,
universal on the earth.

The characters of individuals are not the same,
nor the vices which prevail in different situa-
tions ; nor their progress, nor their peculiar cir-
cumstances, nor their aggravations, nor the enor-
mity which we ascribe to them. We are ac-
customed to estimate, as. well as to distinguish,
the different degrees of depravity. We can per-
ceive sins and infirmities, which are mixed with
many contrary dispositions or intentions. We
see vice in its dawn, and vice in its progress ;
sins committed from ignorance, surprise, or im-
becility ; and crimes which are the effects of de-
liberate contrivance or design; sinners falling
into early or into great transgressions, and trem-
bling under the reproaches of their own minds ;
and sinners hardened against every good im-

SER. S. OF GRACE. 24 1

pression, " filling up the measure of their ini-
quities.'"

Jin t whatever the degrees of individual de-
pravity are, it is impossible not to perceive in
all these different views of human life, the in-
separable characters of the first apostacy. " By
one man's disobedience, the many * were made
sinners." Wherever men have been, " has sin
abounded ;" and different as its progress and its
aspects are, its living and indelible memorials
are in every land, and are transmitted from age
to age.

Men who are guided by the spirit of the
world, do not admit either the general guilt, or
the general depravation, which Christianity af-
firms, and experience demonstrates; although
the steady resolution with which they resist eve-
ry admonition from religion, contrary to their
ruling passions, is by itself a proof of their re-
lation to the first transgressor. But if we
turn to him who has been effectually roused to
repentance by the awe of God ; the fact which
I have stated (for it is as much a fact as a
doctrine) will be found to come home to his

* ii TTtxui. * Rom. v. If).

242 THE DOCTRINE SEU. 8.

conscience, " in demonstration of the Spirit and
of power." The consciousness of the personal
guilt, of which he repents before God, with
deep humiliation, and with bitter regrets, is ac-
companied with a clear perception of the effects
of sin on the conditions of mankind ; and of its,
unhappy influence or dominion in the situations
of human life, within his sphere of observation.
The monuments of the original apostacy, though
the spirit of the world disguises them under spe-
cious names, and varnishes them by artificial sys-
tems, make a deep impression on his mind, in
the hour of prayer and penitence; while he
thinks, with awful conviction, of " the wrath
of Goc| reyealed from heaven against all the un-
godliness and unrighteousness of men*."

If we rehearse the assertion of this text, to him
who is conscious of this state of mind, and if he
relies on it as a fact, he hears it, as the signal of
" life from the dead." " Where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound :" Not merely the
forbearance of punishment, but " the grace"
which effectually saves the guilty, and restores

* Romans i. 18.

SEK. 8. OF GEACE. 243

them: not "grace" commensurate to one great
offence, or to the sins of many individuals; but
"grace" from the God of heaven, to " the chief
of sinners" on the earth : "Grace," which em-
braces, with the same effect, sinners of the first,
and sinners of the latest age : " Grace," con-
veyed by means, winch are completely effectual
for the regeneration of men, and for tjie glory
of God: " Grace," which repairs the effects of
the first man's disobedience on the earth, by
means of the incarnation and obedience of " the
only begotten of the Father ;" whom " God set
forth fo be a propitiation through faith in his
blood*;" and who suffers and dies in the flesh,
to offer a propitiatory sacrifice for our fallen
race.

The apostle illustrates " Grace as abounding
much more than sin," by representing the fall
of the world as the result of one offence, and
" the grace"' which repairs the ruins of the fall,
a> extending to the transgressions of men from
age to age. " The judgment was by one to
condemnation; but the free gift is of many of-

* Romans iii. 23
Q 2

244 THE DOCTRINE SER. 8.

fences unto justification*." And we must per-
ceive, that when the sources and the means of
our salvation are placed together, the contrast of
" grace" to " sin," goes far beyond even this
assertion.

The depravity of mankind is transmitted from
one generation to another. Guilt and impeni-
tence go hand in hand. But " the father of
mercies, the God of all comfortf," thinks with
compassion and with love of his fallen crea-
tures, though they are at enmity with him.
'? He lays their help on one mighty to save J:"
" He spares not his own son, but delivers him
up for us all §." " The only begotten of the Fa-
ther, full of grace and truths," at his com-
mand, humbles himself, and becomes a man on
the earth; " A man of sorrows || ;" A man " obe-
dient unto death, even the death of the cross** ;"
A man "smitten of God and afflicted -f|," for
" the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all J J;"

* Rom. v. 16. t 2 Cor. i. 3.

£ Psalm lxxxix. 19. Isaiah lxiii. 1. § Rom. viii. 32.
<f[ St John i. 14. |) Isaiah liii. 3.

•♦Phil. ii. 8. ft Isaiah liii. 3.

J :): Isaiah liii. 6»

SEl1' 8. OF GRACE. 045

► A man "offering himself without spot untoGod*,"
that " we might have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to
the riches of his grace f." The Son of God,
in the form of man, expires in torment, that he
may " redeem us from the curse J" denounced
against transgressors, and make atonement to
God for us all.

The reign of grace on earth was then esta-
blished, when the great Redeemer "cried with a
loud voice §" on the cross, " It is finished, and
bowed his head, and gave up the ghost tf."
When " he was raised from the dead, to die no
more ||;" his triumph was complete, and the
powers of sin and death were for ever vanquish-
ed. " The ground was cursed" at first, " for
the sake of man**;" and when Christ "made his
soul an offering for sin," the earth trembled, and
the rocks were rent beside him ft- But when he
was " declared to be the Son of God with power,"

* Hcb. ix. 14. f Ephcs. i. 1.

\ Gallat. iii. 13. § Matth. xxvii. 50.

^ St John xix. 30. y Rom. vi. 9.

** Gen. iii. 17. ff Matth. xxvii. 51.

246 THE DOCTRINE SER. 8.

by his resurrection from the dead, it was no
more " the curse" which lie proclaimed to the
world: It was "the grace" arid blessing of
the everlasting God ; " peace on earth, and
good will to men*;" "peace" to sinners, " re-
deemed unto God," and returning to him ; and
" good will," where " sin abounded." How in-
finitely interesting and impressive, is the doctrine
of " grace," promulgated from the cross of
Christ !

Did we hear for the first time, " that God
was in Christ reconciling the World unto him-
self, not imputing their trespasses uiito them ;"
and " that he hath made him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him f ;" we might well
contemplate with astonishment and awe, events
so important, and yet so far above our appre-
hension. But our ideas of " grace abounding
more than sin," rise higher, in proportion to our
earnest and habitual attention to the subject,
when we find, in these unparalleled events, the

* Luke ii, 14. f 2 Cor. v. 19. 21*

taB. 8. OF GUACE. 247

doctrine of salvation and of the remission of
sins, published for the faith of all nations ; and
the efficacy of the great propitiatory sacrifice, ex-
tending back to the first moment, from which
u sin abounded," and reaching forward to the
latest trace, and to the last abode of sin on earth.
" O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are
his judgments ! — For who hath known the
mind of the Lord ? or who hath been his coun-
sellor? or who hath first given to him? — For
of him, and through him, and to him are all
things ; to whom be glory for ever, Amen*."

But there is another view of "grace," in con-
trast with guilt and depravity. Christ died for
sinners : and God raised him from the dead, " and
exalted him at his right hand, a prince and a sa-
viour, to give repentance to Israel, and forgive-
ness of sins f ;" to dispense the pardon for which
he shed his blood, and to sanctify those " who
come to God by him," for the glory of his
grace, and for u the day of redemption."

* Rom. xi. 33—35. f Acts v. 31.

248 THE DOCTRINE SER. 8.

Christianity represents the remission of sins
through the blood of atonement, as inseparably
conjoined and united, in those who receive itj to
purity of principle and of conduct, which the
Scriptures express by " holiness, without which
no man shall see the Lord*." Were it possible
to imagine the contrary supposition, it would
make Christ "the minister of sin :" And this the
apostle Paul has expressly stated, in his address
to the Gallatians on the subject. " If while we
seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also
are found sinnerSj is therefore Christ the minis-
ter of sin? God forbid f." The genuine doc-
trine of the gospel represents purity of mind, and
holiness of life, as essential characters of those
" who believe to the saving of their souls ;"
without which, they would neither be at peace
with themselves, nor have any sound reason to
conclude, that they are in peace with God.

But, on the other hand, as all our talents and
endowments are derived from God, and " every
good and perfect gift cometh down from him J;"

* Heb. xii, 14. f Gallat. ii. 17«

% James i. 17.

3ER. 8. OF GRACE. 249

Christianity ascribes to "the grace which brings
salvation" to the world, and to " the promise of
the Father" through the intercession of Christ,
" to give the Holy Spirit to them who ask him,"
ail the sanctification of men: their first impres-
sions of godliness and duty; their first conver-
sion from sin to God ; and all their progress in
good works and patience. " By the grace of
God," said the apostle Paul, " I am what I am :
and his grace, which was bestowed upon me, was
not in vain ; but I laboured more abundantly
than all the apostles; yet not I, but the grace of
God which was with me*."

We contemplate, with peculiar emotion, "the
grace" of Christ, when, in the language of the
New Testament, he "seeksf a sinner, to save
him," who is far from God : " The grace"
which imperceptibly works within him, and, by
external means suited to his peculiar temper,
gradually moulds his heart to penitence and
prayer : " The grace" which, by considerations
adapted to his character, persuades him to em-

* l,Cor. xv. 10. -f Luke xix. 10.

250 THE DOCTRINE SER. 8.

brace with ardour the salvation of God ; which
invigorates the good intentions of his mind, and
which purines his motives and affections : The
grace which determines him to rest his happi-
ness on his faith and hopes, and on his fidelity
to God and men ; which effectually forms with-
in him " the spirit of power, and of love, and of
a sound mind*';" which teaches him " the prayer
of faith," and " fills him With peace and joy in
believing:" "The grace" which sends him
with earnest solicitude, to every duty, and which
" thoroughly furnishes him for every good
work ;" " The grace" which, " in the fulness
of the blessing of the gospel of peace," " pours
out the Spirit of God" to dwell within him.

" The reign of grace f destroys for ever the
dominion of sin. Like the fall of the world, it
has many aspects in human characters : but it is
" the great salvation of God" on the earth.
" The children of God," every one in his own
place, and by means adapted to his peculiar situa-
tion, " are gathered together in one J," " from the

* 2 Tim. i. 7- t ^m. v. 2J.

% St John xi. 52.

SER. 8. OF GRACE. 251

east and from the west, and from the north, and
from the south." The multitude of men, re-
deemed unto God from guilt and sin, are mo-
numents in every land, of tf the grace" which
renovates the world; of " peace in heaven*'*
and earth, and " glory in the highest."

We shall find another view of " grace abound-
ing more than sin," by considering,

II. The miseries of human life.

The calamities of men began with the origi-
nal apostacy from God. In Adam's paradise,
the earth brought forth, without culture, her most
precious fruits. Every living creature obeyed
his call, and added to his store of blessings ; and
neither care, nor sufferings, nor debility, nor de-
cay, were permitted to approach him.

The fall of man from innocence reversed the
condition, and destroyed the order of the world.
From that moment, he possessed a paradise no
more. He was driven into a wilderness f;
doomed " to eat his bread, in the sweat of his
face J;" and " in sorrow were his children

* Luke xix. 38. t Gen. iii. 24.

$ Gen. iii. If).

252 THE DOCTRINE SER. 8*

born *." All nature around him became, from
that time, full of toil, and strife, and pain, and
disease, and sorrow ; and " the whole creation
groaned together "j\"

The calamities of human life justify this re-
presentation of our fallen state. They have
spread and multiplied from the first transgressor,
through all the ages and generations of the
world. The calamities which afflict our bodies,
their weakness or their wants, their diseases or
their decay ; the calamities which spring up
from the contending interests, and from the
boisterous or malignant passions of the world ;
the calamities which vice creates wherever it
predominates, or which vice transmits from man
to man ; the calamities which torment us by
means of our affections, and the regrets connec-
ted with every earthly satisfaction ; the clouds
which hover around every human dwelling ;
" the keepers of the house who tremble ; the
mourners who go about the streets J;" and
" the heart which knows its own bitterness [j ;"

* Gen. iii. 16. f Rom. viii, 22*

% Eccles. xi. 3. 5. |J Prov. xiv. 10.

SER. 8. OF GRACE. 253

which shuts out the light of day, and resigns it-
self to darkness or despair; are all impressive
and perpetual memorials, of the original curse
on the fall of man : indelible memorials, of the
effects of sin on the condition of sinners ; and
of the calamities of sinful men, amidst all the
delusions of a fallen world.

I am not exaggerating the calamities of man-
kind ; though it is obvious that they have many
different aspects in the lot of individuals. One
man is pressed down by afflictions, from his
birth to his grave ; while the sufferings of ano-
ther are, in comparison, scarcely to be discerned,
and are compensated by many satisfactions. But
every situation of human life has its share of the
miseries, which sin has brought into the world;
anjd though " a man live many years, and rejoice
in them ail," he has good reason " to remember
(or to prepare himself for) the days of dark-
ness, lest they should be many #." Wherever we
trace the lineaments of the first transgressor, we
find sorrows and calamities universally entailed
on his descendants.

Those who do not take their views of life

• Ecclcs. xi. 8.

254 THE DOCTRINE SER. 8.

from religion, and who imagine human nature
to have been always what it is, do not see the
fall of man in his calamities. When they surfer,
they seek their consolations from the sensible
world, and have no reliance on the doctrine,
which affirms " the grace" of God " to abound"
on earth, yet more than the miseries of men.

We must turn to those who have learned, both
from religion and experience, to perceive what
sin has done to bring sorrows on the earth, in
order to find a proper estimate of " grace a-
bounding more." They know and feel, that
" the grace," which Christianity reveals for the
salvation of men, holds out the true resources of
the miserable, and the only certain antidotes, to
the calamities of the human race.

It was affirmed by the prophet Isaiah, to he
the leading object of the Messiah, " to appoint
unto them that, mourn in Zion— ^Beauty for
ashes, the oil pf joy for mourning, and the gar-
ment of praise for the spirit of heaviness * :"
And a similar description, recorded by the pro-
phet f, was employed by the Lord himself, to

* Isaiah lxi. 3. t Isaiah lxi. 1. 2.

SEIl. 8. OF GRACE. Z55

give the first impression of the gospel, when he
began to preach in the synagogue of Nazareth.
" The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-heart-
ed, to preach deliverance to the captives, and re-
covering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
them that are bruised ; to preach the acceptable
year of the Lord. This day is this Scripture
fulfilled in your ears*."

Christianity does not profess to release us from
calamities in the present world ; for probation,
and probationary sufferings, are become insepa-
rable from the degenerate state of human nature.
But Christianity professes to convert our calami-
ties into salutary discipline. It professes to sus-
tain our courage, and to support us under them.
It professes to alleviate their pressure or severity.
It professes to render them the means of our
gradual release from " the bondage of cor-
ruption," and of our progress in " the glorious
liberty of the children of God." It professes
to compensate, by the most permanent satisfac-
tions, whatsoever we are required to suffer. If

* Luke iv. 18. 1 9. 21.

256 THE DOCTRINE SER. 8.

these ends are effectually attained, nothing can
be more certain, than that " the grace" of God
" abounds much more," than either miseries or
sin.

We can follow the contrast of " grace" to
sorrow, in the experience of those who know
what vital religion is, and who " have seen the
salvation of God."

We have many striking opportunities, in com?
mon life, of observing " the grace" of God to a
sinful man, when he effectually employs the dis-
cipline of calamities, to turn, or to change the dis-
positions of his heart ; to give him his first, or
his strongest impressions of godliness and puri-
ty, of fidelity in his personal diities, or of the
hope of salvation at last; to humble his passions,
to check his presumption, or to subdue his pride ;
to rouse him into ardour, or to send him to
gQod works with patience ; to lead him, by a sure
but imperceptible progress, from the sorrows of
repentance, to " the peace of God, which passeth
all understanding." It is deeply interesting to a
good man, to recollect the effects of the influ-
ence of God on his mind, which he believes to
have reconciled him to his bitterest cup of af-

SER. S. OF GRACE. 257

diction; to recollect the " grace" which propor-
tions his courage to his lot, his hopes to his
sufferings, his faith to the discipline appointed
him ; the " grace" which sanctifies the time of
suffering, for the hour of temptation, the pressure
of afflictions, for the situations in which his fide-
lity is severely tried, the progress and the dura-
tion of his present calamities, for the glories of
" the latter day."

Who shall say, that he has suffered in vain,
or that he suffers without consolation, who shall
find his place at last among the sons of God?
The time is not distant, when the progress of
" grace" on earth, and its triumph over every
human calamity, shall he completed. There
shall then he sin no more : the probation of
man shall then be finished : miseries shall cease
for ever among the sons of light : and grace
shall reign, where no sorrow is.

Were the influence of vital religion universal
on the earth, its effects on the situations of man-
kind would be universal also. Calamities would
everywhere be converted into blessings; and the
universal regeneration of the world would every-
where begin. The description of the prophet

R

258 THE DOCTRINE SER. 8,

would be effectually realised : " The child might
play on the hole of the asp," or " put his hand
on the cockatrice den," where there would he
nothing " to hurt or to destroy *."

It is delightful to believe, that such glorious
events are in any form or degree approaching,
and that the reign of " grace" shall be at last
established. " Father, in heaven, hallowed be
thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be
done on earth, as it is done in heaven f ."
" Hosanna to the Son of David : Blessed is he
who came in the name of the Lord J:" He
who was sent from heaven " for salvation to the
ends of the earth || :" He who came " to heal
the broken hearted §" and " to comfort all who
mourn 5[."

Another illustration of the doctrine of the
text may be suggested, by considering,

III. The mortality of mankind.

Mortality is not an original attribute of hu-
man nature. Pure when he proceeded from his
Maker's hand, man was formed to live for ever.

* Isaiah xi. 8. 9. t Matth. vi. 9- 10.

% Matth. xxi. 9. II Acts xiii. 47.

§ Luke iv. 18. H Isaiah Jxi. 2.

.ER. 8. OF GRACE. $59

Whatever change in the state of his being he
might have experienced, from the progress of
perfect virtue and happiness among the sons of
God, as long as he preserved his innocence, he
was beyond the reach of death.

We are taught by the gospel, to ascribe to sin,
which is the source of all our other calamities, the
introduction of mortality also among mankind.
" By one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin, and so death passed upon all men,
for that all have sinned. — Death reigned from A-
dam to Moses, even over them who had not sin-
ned after the similitude of Adam's transgres-
sion * :" And from age to age, in every period
and condition of human life, it is the inseparable
and irrevocable destiny of man.

Religion holds out to us no exemption from
the general law, by which " it is appointed unto
men once to. die t-" But it is the attribute of
God to bring light from darkness, our restora-
tion from our full, consolation from the grave,
and life from the dead. " Sin hath reigned un-
to death ;" and the reign of " grace" begins with

* Romans v. 12. 14. f Hcb. ix. 27.

r2

26*0 THE DOCTRINE SER. 8.

the triumph of the Son of God, over death and
sin.

" God sent his only begotten Son into the
world" to die, " that we might Jive through
him*:" To die, " that, through death, he might
destroy him who had the power of death ; and
deliver them who through fear of death were
all their lifetime subject to bondage f :" To die,
that " God might raise him up, because it was
not possible that death could hold him J :" To
die, that he might rise from the dead, as a con-
queror, " leading captivity captive," and might
be " the first fruits of them who sleep :" To
die, that he might become " the resurrection and
the life," to those who believe in him; and
might sanctify the grave for them, as a place of
rest and peace, till " the day of their redemp-
tion" comes.

His resurrection is the great fact on which
the gospel rests its authority, and from which
we derive our most permanent consolations. We
know " that it is not a thing incredible that God

* 1 John iv. 9. t Heb« »• 14. 15* •

\ Acts ii. 24.

SER. 8. OF GRACE. 26*1

should raise the dead/' or that " the dead in
Christ" should he destined to live with him after
the general resurrection ; and are certain that the
resurrection of Christ is supported by evidence,
such as we are accustomed to receive with confi-
dence in every other case ; and such as we ac-
knowledge to be sufficient to govern our con-
duct, in the most interesting concerns of the pre-
sent life.

What an important fact is the resurrection of
the Lord, in the reign of " grace !" " If by one
man's offence, death reigned by one; much more,
they which receive abundance of grace, and of
the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life, by
one Jesus Christ*."

" Grace" reigns; for they who believe and
obey the gospel are certain of their victory over
death, since Christ has risen from the dead.
Though u the dust returns to the earth as it was,
their spirits return to God who gave them f :"
Their dust itself is precious, and " Christ shall
raise it up at the last day $.*

• Rom. v. 1 7» t Ecclcs. xii. 7.

| St John vi. 39-

262 THE DOCTRINE SER. 8.

" Grace" reigns, to assure us concerning
" those who are asleep" in Christ, that they are
not lost to us, or to themselves ; that they sleep
in peace ; that because Christ has risen from the
dead, they shall rise again ; that " in their flesh
they shall see God ;" and that, if we are <{ fol-
lowers of them," we shall, in due time, find our
place among them.

" Grace" reigns, to deliver us from the fear of
death ; and to teach us how to live, that we may
learn how to die: To tell us of the grave, that
the Lord was there : To tell us of the resurrec-
tion, that " the Lord is risen indeed," and that
*■ the dead in Christ" shall rise together, to live
with him ; that not one of them " shall perish;"
and that they shall see with their eyes " the
great salvation of God:" To tell us of the glory
of " the first resurrection," and of " the general
assembly and church of the first born," " whose
names are written in heaven."

" Grace" reigns ; " and blessed are the dead
who die in the Lord, from henceforth : yea, saith
the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours ;
and their works do follow them *."

* Rev. xiv. 13.

SER. 8. OF GRACE. 263

The reign of " grace1' is at last completely es-
tablished; for the Son of God, " the first begot-
ten of the dead*," looks down from heaven,
and says to his disciples in the world, " Fear
not; I am the first and the last; I am he that
liveth, and was dead ; and behold I am alive for
evermore, Amen ; and have the keys of hell and

death f."

" Sin has abounded" on the earth, and " death
by sin:" But "grace much more abounds;"
since we are sure that the resurrection of the
Lord is the pledge from heaven, that they shall
rise again, whom he has redeemed unto God.
" Sin has reigned unto death ; but grace reigns
through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus
Christ our Lordf." " Death will at last be
swallowed up in victory J| :" And, if we are
Christ's, we are certain, that there is a place
" prepared for us" among the sons of light,
where we have the promise of the everlasting
God, that " there shall be no more death" for
ever.

• Rev. i. 5. f Rev. i. 17. 18.

$ Rom. v. 21. B'l Cor. xv. 54.

264 THE DOCTRINE sEH. 8i

We shall have another view of " grace a-
bounding more than sin," if we consider,

IV. The final perdition, which is represented
in the Scriptures, as the last consequence of the
fall of man.

Every idea which we can form of the moral
government of God, or of the general doctrine
of rewards and punishments asserted in the
gospel, leads us to believe, that the final pu-
nishment of obstinate guilt must far exceed the
unequal allotment of miseries, experienced in
the present life; and therefore supposes an ex-
istence after death, in which every impenitent
man shall suffer the consequences of his obdu-
rate depravity.

Christianity affirms this event to be the cer-
tain result of the probation, under which man-
kind are placed, in the present life; and has
given us the most minute and explicit infor-
mation with regard to it. It represents the
whole multitude of wicked and impenitent men
raised from their graves, after the resurrection
of " the dead in Christ;" not to enjoy ano-
ther life, or td experience a new probation ; but

oER. S. OF GRACfe. 265

to, stand " before tlie judgment scat of Christ,"
where every individual is to receive a final and ir-
revocable sentence, according to "the deeds done
in the body." It represents the punishment to
be inflicted on them, by the last sentence of the
" Judge of all," as commensurate to the guilt of
obstinate and final apostacy from the eternal
God ; and affirms, that they are doomed to suffer
for " ever the anguish of unquenchable fire*;"
associated with all the apostate spirits, who have
persisted in their rebellion against their maker.

" This is the second death f." It was com-
prehended in the original sentence, which de-
nounced death on the apostacy of man, as well
as the mortality of the body. We are led di-
rectly to this conclusion, by the contrast which
the apostle has stated betwixt death, as the pu-
nishment of sin, and " eternal life," as the result
of the grace of God by Christ. " The wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life,
through Jesus Christ our Lord J." It is expressed
in language still more precise, when the first re-

• Mattb. iii. 12. -J- Rev. xxi. 8*

X Rom. vi. 23.

266 THE DOCTRINE SER. 8i

surrection is stated in contrast with the second
death. " Blessed and holy is he that hath part
in the first resurrection; on such the second
death hath no power*." It is represented in
the most striking light, when after a minute de-
scription of " the judgment of the great day,"
and of the sentence to be then pronounced on
" every man, according to his works," the last pu-
nishment of obstinate impenitence " in the lake
which burnetii with fire and brimstone," (the
usual emblems of future punishment in the
New Testament) is expressly affirmed to be " the
second death:" '* Death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire : This is the second death :
And whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire f."
" The fearful, and unbelieving, and the abomi-
nable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and
sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have
their part in the lake which burnetii with fire
and brimstone : which is the second death J."

• Rev. xx. 6. t Rev. xx. 12—15,

J Rev. xxi. 8.

SER. 8. OF GRACE.

267

The description of apostacy, terminating in
eternal punishment, requires but to be mention-
ed, to awaken every idea of horror. How im-
portant is it, that men should have warning gi-
ven than of that which is the inevitable conse-
quence of their depravity, " except they repent!"
How infinitely important to them, that the
means should be placed within their reach, " to
By from wrath to come!"

" The orace of God, which bringeth salvation,
has appeared unto all men;" " that whosoever
believeth on the Son of God, might not perish,
but might have everlasting life." On the other
hand, nothing can be more certain, than that for
those who deliberately persist in their impeni-
tence, and " reject the counsel of God against
themselves," " there remaineth no more sacrifice
for sin." With whatever degree of insensibility,
" they bear their iniquity" till they die, they have
every thing awful to apprehend, in " the second
death."

While we have this impression on our minds,
how exquisitely consoling is it to know, " that
grace abounds much more than sin," in those who

268 THE DOCTRINE SER. 8.

sincerely believe and obey the gospel! And that
being sanctified by the faith of the gospel, they
have " good," or well-founded, " hope through
grace," that " they shall have their part in the first
resurrection," that " over them the second death
may have no power."

Think, my brethren, with delight and joy,
of " grace reigning," by the dominion of the
Son of God, that they who believe on him
" may not be hurt by the second death ;" that
they may be completely separated from the
apostacy, and from the apostate spirits; that
they may not only be effectually shielded at last
from " the wrath to come," but raised to the
participation of the glory of Sons of God ; when
God creates for them " new heavens and a new
earth*," in which there can be no apostacy, or
misery, or curse, or death, for ever.

Think of " the grace" which assembles to-
gether, " with everlasting joy," a " multitude
which no man can number, of all nations, and
kindreds, and people, and tongues, before the

* 2 Peter iii. 13.

SER. 8. OF GRACE. 269

throne, and before the Lamb*;" and of the
" grace/' which reigns through eternal ages
among that multitude, of which every indi-
vidual is perfect in goodness, perfect in happi-
ness, perfect in love, " perfect and complete in
all the will of God," " to the glory of God the
Father f."

The reign of " grace" is the triumph of the
Son of God : It is the destruction of sin, and of
Satan's empire; it is the kingdom of God, which
is established for ever; the final regeneration of
the Sons of God, when " the first heaven and
the first earth shall have passed away J," " and
God shall be all in all §/'

While we dwell with delight on these differ-
ent views of " grace abounding more than Bin,"
it is impossible to forget the miseries of those,
who deliberately attach both their satisfactions
and their lot, to the old creation, and to the
reign of sin.

Would to God it were possible to convince
them of the real misery in which they live; for

• Rev. vii. 9. f Philip, ii. 1,1.

I Rev. xxi. I. § 1 Cor. xv. 28.

270 THE DOCTRINE SKR. 8.

miserable they are, amidst all the delusions of
this world ; or to persuade them of the certain-
ty of the awful perdition before them, if " they
shall die in their sins." But it is of the last im-
portance to remind them, that they have still
"space to repent;" and that by the grace of
God, we are required both to encourage, and
to beseech them, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, " to be reconciled unto God ;" to turn
and to repent, " that they may obtain mercy,"
before the day of probation expires, and that;
" the free gift may come on them also, to justi-
fication, and" eternal " life*."

But before I conclude, I must beseech those,
who sincerely believe and obey the gospel, to
consider, with the most earnest attention, an a-
postolical admonition, intimately connected with
every part of the doctrine, which I have endea-
voured to illustrate; and which goes deep in-
to the spirit and power of " the gospel of the
grace of God."

" What shall we say then," says the apostle,
after having asserted the doctrine of this text,

* Rom. y« 18.

SER. 8. OF GRACE. 271

" Shall we continue in sin, that grace may a-
bound? God forbid. How shall we who are
dead to sin, live any longer therein? Christ,
raised from the dead, dieth no more : Likewise
reckon ye yourselves, to be dead indeed unto
sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ
our Lord. — For the wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus
Christ our Lord*."

• Rom. vi. 1.2. p. 11.23.

SERMON IX.

ON THE

CONDUCT OF PROVIDENCE TO GOOD MEN.

Romans viii. 28.

11 We know that all things work together for
good to them that love God ; to them who are
the called according to his purpose"

.JL his text is introduced, in connexion with
some of the most animated descriptions in the
New Testament, of the views, and of the state
of mind, peculiar to those who sincerely em-
brace Christianity; and who are described, at the
beginning of this chapter, as men " who are in
Christ Jesus, and who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit." It expresses, in direct and
unqualified terms, the universal subserviency of
the events of this life, under the influence of
God, to all their essential and permanent inte-

.-EU. 9. THE CONDUCT OF GODj &C. 273

rests ; and it affirms that their reliance on this
fact, proceeds, not only from a full persuasion,
but from an intimate knowledge of its certainty.

I am, in discoursing on the text, to illustrate
the sources, from which good men derive their
knowledge on this subject.

" They know that all things work together
for good, to them who love God :"

1. From the declared intentions of God with
regard to those " who love him."

2. From their attention to the minute history
and progress of human life. And,

3. From their personal experience of the con-
duct of Providence.

I observe,

I. That good men know, with certainty, the
subserviency of the events of this life to their per-
manent interests, from the declared intentions of
God with regard to those " who love him."

This is the statement given by the apostle in
the section from which this text is taken. He
first describes those to whom the assertion is apr
plied, as men " who love God, and who are the
called according to his purpose;" and then he
affirms that the circumstances of their progress to

274 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. 9.

the kingdom of heaven, are inseparably united, by
the wisdom and power of God, till their proba-
tion is finished, and their salvation is complete*.*'
While he represents the entire security of " the
many brethren," among whom Christ is the
"first born," with regard to all their interests in
this world, and in the world to come, and every
step they advance, as leading directly to another ;
lie derives their security, from the original inten-
tions of God for their advantage, and from the
perpetual exercise of his providence and grace,
to render the events of this life the means of
promoting them.

When this doctrine is applied to the assertion
of the text, restricted, as it is, to those " who
love God," it is addressed directly to their per-
sonal feelings. Regulated by him, every cir-
cumstance in their lot must answer his inten-
tions. Every event which they experience, what-
ever its external aspect is, and whether it shall,
at the moment when it happens, produce satis-
factions or afflictions, must ultimately lead to
the end which is at last to be attained.

* Romans viii. 29. 30.

3ER. 9- TO GOOD MEN. 275

"It is their Father's good pleasure to give
them the kingdom of heaven f and they are cer-
tain, that it is his gracious intention to render
their salvation complete, hy means of the disci-
pline and the duties, the advantages and the ta-
lents, the trials and the temptations, the prospe-
rity and the adversities of this life ; by means of
the ordinances of religion, and the dispensations
of Providence ; continued with such circumstan-
ces and variations, as their different tempers and
situations require, till their probation attains its
end, and they are permitted to find their passage,
through death, to the happiness of the invisible
world.

They are sometimes required to suffer long,
,and often to experience severe disappointments.
But while they know the end to be secured,
they know that their heaviest trials are selected
by the wisdom of God. They ought therefore
to believe, that they are the means best adapted
to their peculiar characters ; and that, by the
sorrows which they create, by the affections
which they excite, or by the prayer whidi they
suggest, he sanctifies their conditions, and purifies
their hearts, or revives their ardour, or checks

276 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. 9.

their passions, or confirms the faith which is
not strong, or the faith which has been shaken
or endangered. They have the best reasons to
be assured of the final result of every dispensa-
tion, in which their interests are involved ; and
(as I shall afterwards shew) learn to perceive, in
the events which they experience, the means by
which it is promoted. Their reliance on the
intentions of God, sheds a light around the dark-
est passages of human life; and enables them,
even from the gloom of the house of mourning,
to discern the kindness which never deserts them,
and to give thanks to the God of their salvation.
" If God be for us," says the apostle Paul,
" who can be against us ? He who spared not
his own Son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all
things? — Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecu-
tion, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
— Nay, in all these things we are more than con-
querors, through him that loved us. For I am
persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor an-
gels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor height, nor

SBR. 9. TO GOOD MEN. 277

depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord*."

The doctrine of this text is addressed to those
" who love God, and who are conformed to the
image of his Son ;" and is incapable of any
fair construction, by which men, without prin-
ciple or morals, can, in any instance, apply it to
themselves. Every one will therefore perceive,
that, to enjoy the comfort resulting from these
illustrations of it, we must have good reason to
believe that we possess the character to which it
is restricted ; and must be sensible, at the same
time, that this is equally true, with regard to
every view which can be taken, either of the
hopes of a Christian, or of the precious promises
on which they depend. We must have the feel-
ings and dispositions of religious men, before we
can either possess their consolations, or be able
to apply them to the situations to which they
are directed.

On the other hand, it is certain, that every
man may have such an intimate knowledge of
the state of his mind, as to be able to ascertain
to his own satisfaction, whether "he loves God"

• Romans viii. 31. 32.-35.-37. 3S. 3.0.

278 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SEli. 9.

with the sincerity of the disciples of Christ ;
whether he can contemplate the intentions of
God, with the personal confidence of religious
men ; and whether he has such ah habitual sense
of duty and religion, as to discern, with real in-
terest and satisfaction, the dominion and the
wisdom of God in the vicissitudes of human
life; and to rety on his immutahle purpose and
grace, both for their present effects, and for their
final result and end in the kingdom of heaven.

By pursuing the subject, we shall find that;
every view of the conduct of Providence accords
with the original intentions of God, and serves
to confirm the faith of those " who love him."
And therefore I observe,

II. That good men " know, that all things
work together for their good," from their atten-
tion to the minute history and progress of hu-
man life.

We are certainly incompetent judges of that
which is either good or best for individual men ;
and are equally incapable of ascertaining exactly,
the rules and the means, by which the designs of
God are accomplished in the present world! But
notwithstanding the limits which must bound

9ER. 9« TO GOOD MEN. 2/9

our inquiries, we receive botli precise and sub-
stantial information on the subject, from the si-
tuations of those among whom we live, when
we have the patience necessary to form an esti-
mate of the events which they experience, and
to observe their remote, as well as their imme-
diate, effects.

There are many events in the lot of indivi-
duals, at first considered as heavy, and even as
hopeless, afflictions, which, in the progress of
things, are followed by consequences, not only
sufficient to compensate their severity, but which
take away from them almost every appearance
of affliction.

In our own situations, our personal sufferings,
the disappointment of our wishes, or events
which bear hard on our affections, often mis-
lead our understandings; and render it as diffi-
cult for us to connect our advantages with our
calamities, as we are unwilling to perceive their
relation to each other. But we are more dispas-
sionate in considering the discipline which other
men experience ; and observe both its first as-
pect, and its distant effects, with more impartia-
lity. Enlightened by the gospel, we follow

£80 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. 9.

with our eye its influence on themselves, and on
their families, and on the conditions of human
Jife, with which they are connected. As specta-
tors, we can trace its remote consequences to
their cause, with as much certainty as its imme-
diate effects; and perceive more readily than
from our own experience, that the best advanta-
ges which they attain, are often visibly marked
as the result of their heaviest calamities.

The most striking examples which can be
given to illustrate this doctrine, are perhaps those
which are suggested by the ravages of death, in
situations, in which much is supposed to have
depended on the lives of those who are taken
away. There are no events more severely felt
at the time when they occur, and none, of which
the apparent tendency is more unfavourable to
those who are chiefly interested. On the other
hand, there are no calamities, which the provi-
dence of God more frequently renders the means
of promoting the permanent interests of those
who suffer from them, or which, by their con-
sequences, ought to be considered as more im-
pressive demonstrations of the truth of the doc-
trine in this text.

M.U. 9* TO GOOD MEN. 281

The death of good men, and the death of
those who have neither worth nor character,
may, in certain circumstances, equally afford us
examples to illustrate this assertion. Both may
materially affect the situation pf individuals, and
excite their strongest feelings. Their effects are
equally subject to the wisdom and providence of
God; and are very often indeed, extremely dif-
ferent from their apparent tendency.

When a good man dies, it is impossible that
those, who are immediately connected with him,
should not feel severely. Hut the calamity which
his death occasions, is peculiarly aggravated, if
lie is the father of a family, or has many friend-
less or helpless beings, who depend on his acti-
vity or his beneficence; and if he is taken from
the world in the vigour of his life, and in the
midst of his usefulness, while he is yet capable
of the most active employments. The calamity
is extremely heightened, if his family are left or-
phans in the world, with no external resources
or protection on which they can rely.

There arc few events which we can observe
around us, of which the first aspect, is darker, or
more depressing. Every department of duty

282 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. £*

or usefulness, which we connect with him who
is taken away, adds to our impression of the ca-
lamity, which his death occasions, and to the
gloom which covers it.

On the other hand, we are soon convinced
by observation, how remote our first conclusions
are, from the real consequences of such an event.
If a man dies, full of faith and of good works,
we can have no regrets on his own account;
and I have shewn, in a former discourse*, in
how many ways the providence of God secures
to the families of worthy men, both the means
and the protection which lead them on to pros-
perity. The only fact to which I request your
attention at present, and which I mention from
its connexion with other facts suggested by the
subject before us, is, that the untimely death of
a good man, and the unprotected state of his
family, the circumstances which apparently con-
stitute the greatest part of their calamity, are pre-
cisely the circumstances, which the providence
of God most commonly selects, to secure to them
the help and attention which they require, in

* Sermon VII.

SEN. 9« TO GOOD MEN. 283

their progress to active life. " A Father of the
fatherless, and a Judge of the widows, is God
in his holy habitation *.M By his blessing, the
children of a faithful man attain situations after
his decease,, to which, in the usual course of
events, they would have had no access, if he
had been preserved to them. If they are wor-
thy of the race of which they are descended,
they come forward, and effectually supply his
place to the world ; and the providence of God
not seldom affords them the means, td emulate
both his usefulness and his virtues.

Though the progress as Well as the characters
of different families, left in similar circumstances,
must of necessity be very different, it will at least
be admitted, that we see enough in the course of
human life, to warrant us in considering the un-
protected children of good men, as monuments
which the hand of Providence continues to rear
before us, to shew, that, by the influence of God,
" all things work together tor good to them who
love him," and to their childen after them.

The death of a man who is known to have

• Psalm l.xviii. 5.

284 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. 9*

been destitute both of principle and morals, an
event very different from this, will be observed,
in many instances, to have the same general re-
sult.

If he is driven, in his wickedness, to an un-
timely grave, and his family are also left help-
less and dependent, it is impossible not to be
sensible of the severity of a calamity, which has
every aggravation attending it, which it can de-
rive from his personal character.

On the other hand, the consequences of this
calamity will very frequently have just the con-
trary appearance. The family of such a man
will often be found to receive the most import-
ant advantages of their youth, and their best pre-
paration for active life, by means of an event,
which effectually separates them from him, and
from all the effects of his tuition. Removed
from the unprincipled lessons, and- from the
pernicious example, which, if he had lived, he
would certainly have given them; if, in the
course of providence, God entrusts them to the
care, or places them under the influence of those,
whom he directs and enables to train them, in
godliness, in sincerity, in love to God, and in

SEU. 9« TO GOOD MKN. *285

fidelity to men ; their real prosperity begins, by
the blessing of heaven, with their first affliction,
and is carried on by means of the situations to
which it has introduced them. They come for-
ward into life, as new men, born into the world ;
with all the advantage of good instruction, and
faithful discipline: neither accustomed to idle-
ness and folly, by their father's negligence; nor
tainted by his vices ; nor corrupted by his max-
ims ; as under his influence they would have
been : but formed, by the kindness of heaven,
in a far different school, to glorify God among
their brethren ; and, if they shall abide by
their early impressions, to distinguish themselves
through life, by every worthy and estimable
quality.

This is no hypothetical case, unsupported by
facts and experience. Those who have lived
long, or who have had sufficient opportunities of
observing the means, by which individual men
are introduced to the business of the world, will
find many examples within their own knowledge,
to justify this representation. They will recol-
lect families, indebted, under God, for their pros-
perity, to events which placed them under bet-

286 THE CONDUCT OF GOD. SER. Q,»

ter instructors than their parents would have
been : Families, whose habitation has become,
by such providential means, what the house of
their fathers never was, " an habitation of God
through the Spirit :" Families, followed by pros-
perity through life, who have good reason to re-
fer the commencement of all the advantages
they possess, to events, which the world set
down as great calamities, but which the provi-
dence of God selected to demonstrate, that " all
things work together for good, to them who are
the called according to his purpose."

There are not many afflictions which make a
deeper impression, than the calamities which
blast the prospects of youth and vigour, or which
unexpectedly take our friends, or our children,
from the world, in the morning of life.

We are seldom happier, than when we see
those in whom we are deeply interested, enter-
ing into the world, with every promise of re-
spect and usefulness ; with good personal talents,
and an original strength of understanding; with
kind affections towards their intimate associates,
and a faithful application to the duties of their
youth ; and with every external appearance, to

SER. 9. TO GOOD MEN*. 287

afford them a reasonable prospect of a long and
prosperous life.

On die other hand, we suffer one of the hea-
viest afflictions incident to men, when we see
those who have originally possessed these ad-
vantages, unexpectedly arrested by calamities,
which blast for ever every youthful expectation ;
by lingering and hopeless diseases; by unfore-
seen and irreparable disasters; or by a sudden
and irresistible decline, which has scarcely been
observed, till they sink into the grave.

Every circumstance, in this representation, is
■full of gloom. We can scarcely resist our incli-
nation to ask, For what was their youth design-
ed ? Or, why are so many talents and affections
combined, to perish without employment, and
without a memorial ?

We see but a small part of the designs of
God : But on this subject, we may observe
enough to satisfy our doubts, and to confirm
our faith. Their youth is not spent in vain,
who have early learned " to love God," and
serve him. Their affections and their talents
are not given them in vain, if they are able, even
for the limited term prescribed, to apply them

288 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SEIt. 9>

successfully to the duties which they are capa-
ble of fulfilling. Their example itelf is not in
vain, nor the temper of their minds, during the
few years they are permitted to associate with
their fellows. If they die before their time, it
is the will of God, that " their testimony" in
this world should be chiefly given by maens of
the dispositions and the industry of youth ; by
means of early sufferings, and untimely death*;
or, by the virtues which a state of suffering re-
quires in them " who love God ;" by patience
and resignation, and trust in God ; by kindness
and gratitude to those who assist them in their
afflictions; by the faith which overcomes both
sorrow and death; by " the blessed hope,"
which enables them to count as nothing, all
that they relinquish in resigning the expectations
of this world ; or by a calm and deliberate pre-
paration for eternity, in which every feeling and
desire of youth gives place, to the glorious anti-
cipation of the great salvation of God.

There is nothing in all the distinctions of this
world, to be compared with a life and death,

* Luke xxi. 13. Heb. iii. 5. St John ix. 3.

SER. 9. TO GOOD MEN. 289

of which these impressive memorials remain.
If they are memorials of those in whom we
have been affectionately interested, we have the
satisfaction to know, that they lived and " died
in the Lord." Their term was short; but
" their testimony" is not lost. They lived to
shew, how God is found of them " who seek
him early;" and how even the heaviest calami-
ties which youth can experience, may qualify
them to glorify him among their brethren.
They died to prove, that what we lose on earth
by the will of God, and in dutiful subjection to
him, we gain an hundred-fold in heaven; and
that " precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of his saints*." Their death, connected
with the circumstances which attend it, gives a
demonstration to the world, as decisive as the
longest life affords us, " That all things work
together for good, to them who love God."

It is easy to multiply examples of severe af-
flictions, operating effectually for the advantage
of those who experience them. Men, who at-
tend to the minute progress of religion, will re-

• Psalm cxvi. 15.
T

250 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. 9.

collect many instances, in which calamities,
which blast the expectations of individuals in
this world, or which bring them to the brink
of the grave, are sanctified by the grace of
God, to direct them to their best views of their
most important interests, or to rouse them to
an effectual repentance. He who, during the
course of his active life, has shut his mind against
the most powerful considerations of religion,
engrossed by the pleasures or perverted by the
maxims of the world, will tremble before God
under the immediate pressure of calamities ; and
by their effect on his conscience, in contradiction
to all his former life, will be compelled to conr
sider with deep anxiety and solicitude, " what
he shall do to be saved."

Though the best impressions, produced by
heavy afflictions, do not always issue in conver-
sion, and often unhappily last no longer than
the occasions which produce them ; there are at
least many instances, in which they are the most
visible or effectual means known to us, by
which individuals are brought to a lasting re-
pentance j or are persuade^, after having. lived

5 Ell. 9. TQ GOOD MEN. 29 1

in a very different state of mind, to subject
themselves, heartily and earnestly, to the autho-
rity of the gospel.

Those are happy calamities, of which this is
the result or the effect. They are selected for
the glory of God, to accomplish an end, for
which neither the considerations of reason, nor
the advantages of prosperity, are effectual. If
they contribute, by their influence on the mind
and conscience, to gather into " the household
of God" those " who are the called accord-
ing to his purpose;" or to recover those
whom the intercourse of the world has in any
degree perverted ; or to " strengthen the things
which remain and are ready to die*;" they
may well be set down as events, which fur-
nish another illustration of the doctrine of this
text, taken from the observation of human life.
We can certainly recollect situations, in which
good men are often restored, by means of afflic-
tions, when they have sunk into languor, or
have been betrayed by temptations; in which
the discipline of affliction recalls them from

* Rev. iii. 2.
T 2

292 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. £.

their errors; or reminds them of the good
works which they have not done; or rebukes
their negligence or their presumption ; or weans
their affections from this life; or warns them
against their peculiar temptations; or teaches
them, by a severe experience of the vanity of
the world and of worldly satisfactions, the ines-
timable value of the pure enjoyments of the
Sons of God, and of " peace and joy in be-
lieving."

But I ought to add, that the many instances
in which good men experience disappointments,
which ultimately become the instruments or
means which save them from greater calamities,
will also afford us striking examples, of the man-
ner in which the providence of God regulates the
events of this life, for the advantage of those,
" who shall be heirs of salvation."

Every man of observation will recollect cases,
in which individuals have been protected from
the most serious evils, or have escaped from im-
minent dangers, by means of disappointments,
• which were at first the subjects of their severe
regrets: or be able to mention examples, in
which even their disappointments have been

SER. 9» TO GOOD MEN. £Q3

converted, in the course of Providence, into po-
sitive blessings; or have become, directly and
exclusively, the means by which most import-
ant blessings have been bestowed on them.

In like manner, it is impossible not to observe,
that the circumstances of good men are often
varied, with every original appearance of disad-
vantage, when it is afterwards demonstrated,
that the consequences are in every point in their
favour. They discover, in the progress of
events, that their situations have been changed
by the wise interposition of God, in order to
extend their usefulness, or to add to their per-
sonal comfort, or to bring them within a sphere
of duty or activity, from which they must
otherwise have been completely excluded.

There is a fact besides, of which a great va-
riety of examples will occur to us. The kind-
ness of God to faithful men, is not seldom con-
nected with the time at which they are taken
from the world. He takes them away, in ten-
der mercy, " from the evil to come *." He se-
lects the period of their death, to save them from
evils, of which they could noi have borne the

' Isaiah lvii. 1.

294? THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. 9.

pressure: From evils, of which there is no
warning given during their lives; but which fol-
low hard after their decease.

All these examples are of the same kind : and
there is scarcely any man's lot which will not
suggest many circumstances to establish the con-
clusion, to which they direct us; to demonstrate
the entire subserviency of all things, under the
moral government of God, to the permanent
advantage of " those who love him." I have
only mentioned a few specimens of the general
history of Providence ; or of events, which have
the appearance of calamities, which, in the lot
of faithful men, are converted, by their effects
or by their result, into substantial blessings.

The illustration of this view of the subject
would be complete, if it were possible to repre-
sent the immense variety of instances, in which
God sanctifies the revolutions of this world, and
over-rules them ; the passions and the ambition
of men, the hostilities and competitions of pub-
lic and of private life, the malignity of some in-
dividuals, and the selfishness of others; to pro-
mote the ends of his moral government among
mankind ; to assist the progress of the gospel ;

=EK. 9» TO GOOD MEV, QQ5

to send the means of information " to those
who sit in darkness ;" to encourage the labours,
to protect the innocent, and to comfort the fa-
milies of faithful men.

The conduct of Providence is often varied, to
suit the variety of ends, of interests, and of cha-
racters, to which it is adapted. But whatever
the external situations are, which are allotted
"to those who love God;" whatever their sphere
of duty is; whatever the talents are with which
they are entrusted ; whether they suffer, or en-
joy; and whether they live, or die; — "we know,"
from all that we perceive in their conditions, that
" the hand of the Lord is with them." His
blessing is in their prosperity, and in their suf-
ferings, and in their labours, and in all their lot.
" All things work together for their good;" so
as to render both their present and their ulti-
mate interests secure ; to carry on their proba-
tion, by the most effectual means ; and to qua-
lify them, by the best discipline of this life, to
become pure and happy at last among the Sons
of God.

I have said, that we have less prejudice and
partiality, when we judge of the situations of

296 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. 9*

other men, than when we attempt to form an
estimate of our own.

It is equally true> on the other hand, that
what we observe has not the same effect on us,
as that which we personally feel and experience.
If we were equally dispassionate with regard to
both, our experience is certainly our best source
of information. — And therefore I add,

III. That good men " know, that all things
work together" for their advantage, from their
personal experience of the conduct of Provi-
dence.

To enable you to enter into this view of the
subject, it is necessary that you should deliberate-
ly consult your own feelings, and endeavour to
recollect coolly your own history.

Have ye been the children of Providence
from your youth? Recollect the time when ye
were friendless in the world ; that important
time, when the peculiar difficulties which ye had
to encounter, were directed by the wisdom of
Providence, to raise up those, who comforted and
blessed you in the name of the Lord, and by
whose help ye have obtained advantages for this

SER. 9. TO GOOD MEN. 297

world, from which an earlier prosperity would
have effectually debarred you.

Look back to the circumstances in your pro-
gress through life, which it was most difficult to
bear : to your first, or your greatest disappoint-
ments ; to the friends who deserted you, when
ye had most occasion for their help ; and to the
resources on which ye relied, which failed you,
when ye tried them. And, on the other hand,
recollect before God, in how many instances, the
advantages which ye have since enjoyed, and the
prosperity which ye have since attained, have
been, directly or remotely, the consequences of
the hardships which went before them. The
very events which ye considered as your hea-
viest misfortunes, when ye experienced them,
are precisely the means which have stimulated
your industry, or taught you the value of talents
which were before neglected, or opened to you
sources of prosperity to which nothing else
would have conducted you. Some individuals
may besides recollect a period, when they con-
sidered themselves as deserted or desolate in the
world, and when God raised up those, in the
time of need, by whom he sent the most unex-

29ft THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. jji

pected or most substantial comfort to their
hearts, concerning all which had befallen them.

But the most important views of affliction
which .this text ought to suggest to us, are cer-
tainly those which represent it as the moral dis-
cipline of God, which, with regard to " them
who love him," is universally employed in sub^
serviency to their probation for the world to
come, and to their eternal salvation by Jesus
Christ.

Though the examples, which I have mention-
ed, frequently occur, it is by no means univer-
sally true, that good men always receive worldly
advantages as the result Of external calamities.
There is great variety in the history of Provi-
dence, with regard to the affairs of the present
life : And the permanent interests of " those who
love God," are neither consistent with a conti-
nued prosperity, nor permit their prosperity, as
often as it is interrupted, to be restored to themt
Nor is it always for their ultimate advantage
that they should either be relieved from their
heaviest afflictions, or should find them compen-
sated in the present world.

On the contrary, it is not only essential to the

SEII. 9, TO GOOD MEN. 299

ends of God's moral government, that good men
should often suffer severely, but that they should
sometimes suffer through life; and still more
frequently, that the advantages which they reap
from the severest calamities, should be entirely
confined to their moral effects, and to their last
result " at the resurrection of the just."

This is an important view of the subject : And
it represents to us the salutary effects of the dis-
cipline of God, as clearly, as we discover it in
the greatest prosperity which compensates our
worst calamities.

I have shewn before, that it is by means of
afflictions, suited to their peculiar tempers, that
some individuals are introduced into the family of
God "according to' his purpose;" and that it
is by continued trials and vicissitudes, that others
are prepared and purified, both for the service
which they are required to accomplish in this
world, and for " the glory hereafter to be re-
vealed in them."

Our lot in this life is determined by the wisdom
of God, and not by our private inclinations. But
let those, whose faith and patience have been
fully tried, consider dispassionately, with how

300 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. 9»

much certainty " they know," from experience,
that the discipline of God ** has wrought effec-
tually for their good."

Let him look back to his experience, whose
mind was first effectually directed to practical
Christianity, in the furnace of affliction ; and
who was there first of all " baptized with the
Holy Ghost, and with fire *."

Let those look back, who are conscious that
they were saved from the influence of tempta-
tions, which had almost destroyed them, by
means of severe afflictions which placed their
sins fully before them, or which subdued the
obstinacy of their tempers ; and who are now
able to say, with faith and triumph, from their
reflection on the effects of this discipline of God,
" We are not of them who draw back unto per-
dition, but of them who believe to the saving of
the soul f."

Let those recollect their experience, who have
learned, in the school of affliction, patience, or
fortitude, or trust in God ; and who have there re-

* Matth. iii. 11.
t Heb. .\. 39.

SEIt. 9. TO GOOD MEN. 30]

nounced the passions of the world, " that Christ
might dwell in their hearts by faith *."

Let those look back, who have risen from the
pressure of heavy calamities, better than ever pre-
pared to labour " for the testimony of Jesus
Christ f," and " to strengthen their brethren"
in the world.

Let " the poor of this world" look back, whom
adversities have followed through all their pilgri-
mage, but " whom God hath chosen to be rich
in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath
promised to them who love him J."

Let good men, of every class, thus deliberate-
ly consult their personal experience ; and consi-
der minutely the connexion which has subsisted
betwixt their worldly condition and their spiri-
tual life ; the progress of both, by means of the
discipline adapted to their personal duties, or to
their peculiar characters ; and the relation of the
whole series of successive events, which have dis-
tinguished their lot, not only to their fidelity in
the duties of the present life, but to the probation
appointed them for the eternal world:. and their

• Ephcs. iii. 17. t Rev. i. 9.

$ James ii. 5.

302 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. &

experience will universally impress this doctrine
on their minds, " that all things work together
for their good," according to the gracious inten-
tions of " him who worketh all in all *."

A devout man, who is accustomed to take
this minute view of the conduct of Providence
to himself, will naturally express his feelings on
the subject, in such words as these: " Good in
all things is the will of the Lord. I know and
feel that it is good and wise." " By the grace of
God, I am what I am;" by the blessings which
he has multiplied around me; by the discipline
which he has chosen for my lot; by the help
which he has sent me in the time of need ; by
the hope with which he has cheered me, when
my heart was faint ; by the difficulties which he
has taught me to surmount ; by the afflictions
which he has enabled me to bear; by the du-
ties which he has prepared me to fulfil ; by the
happy impressions which have revived my cou-
rage, and gladdened my tabernacle, when " the
Spirit of the Lord God was upon me." " Good
in all things is the will of the Lord."

Comfort yourselves, and comfort one another

* 1 Cor. xii. 6.

.-.EH. 0. TO GOOD MEN. 303

with these words. If your observation and your
experience united, remind you of the advanta-
ges and of the consolations, which have never
yet been with-held from " them who love God f
they tell you, not less clearly, where their best
resources ought hereafter to be found.

The dominion of God is universal and per-
petual: and Christ, to whom " all power in
heaven and on earth is given*," " is the same
yesterday, to-day, and for ever f." " Commit
your way £," and u commit the keeping of your
souls, to him |J." He knows you all by your
names. u He is touched with the feeling of our
infirmities §." He gives to every man the help
which is suited to his peculiar duties. He says
to every faithful servant in his own place, M My
grace is sufficient for thee ^[." He says to every
afflicted disciple, who " takes to himself the ar-
mour of God, that he may be able to stand in
the evil day," " Because thou hast kept the word
of my patience, I will also keep thee from the
hour of temptation **." " To him that overco-

• Matth. xxviii. 18. f Heb. xiii. 8. •

% Psalm xxxvii. 5. || 1 Peter iv. 19.

§ Heb. iv. 15. f 2 Cor. 111. 9.
•• Rev. iii. 10.

304 THE CONDUCT OF GOD, &C. SER. 9.

meth will I give to sit with me on my throne,
even as I also overcame, and am set down with
my Father on his throne*;" " and God shall
wipe away all tears from his eyes f ."

" He that hath ears to hear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto, the churches J."

• Rev. iii. 21. t Rev. xxi. 4.

X Rev. ii. 11.

SERMON X*.

OH

THE GENERAL SPIRIT AND EFFECTS OF
CHRISTIANITY.

luke vii. 19. 21. 22.
•' And John calling unto him two of his disciples,
sent them unto Jesus, saying. Art thou he
that should come, or look xvc for another ? —
And in that same hour he cured many of their
injirmities and of plagues, and evil spirits, and
unto many that were blind he gave sight.
Then Jesus atiswering, said unto them, Go
your xvay, and tell John what things ye have
seen and heard, how that the blind see, the
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear,
the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is
preached"

J. do not at present enquire, why John the
Baptist sent this message to our Lord; or why

* Preached in St Andrew's Church, Edinburgh, before the
Directors of the Asylum for the Blind. April 9. 1801,

r

306 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SEIl. 10.

he sent it at a time when his disciples had just
reported to him the miracles which Jesus did,
and the general persuasion of the people con-
cerning him, when " they glorified God, say-
ing, That a great prophet was risen among
them, and that God had visited his people *."
Certainly John could require no confirmation
of his own faith, concerning him on whom " the
Holy Ghost had descended" hefore his eyes,
in exact conformity to the original sign or inti-
mation given him " hy him who sent him to
baptise with water f ;" and least of all could
he require it, after the solemn representation
which lie himself had given of the progress of
our Lord's ministry, now that he heard (as the
evangelist in the preceding verses relates) of the
reverence and awe, which his preaching and his
miracles had spread through all Judea and the
adjacent country.

John's message, and the answer which was
given him, connected with the peculiar circum-
stances which attended them, were certainly
well calculated to confirm the faith of his disci-

* Luke vii. 1<5. f St John i. 33.

>;;K. 10. 01 CHRISTIANITY. 307

pies ; and to give the people in general a striking
view of the relation Subsisting betwixt his mis-
sion and our Lord's ministry, and of the subser-
viency of the one to the other.

IJut the chief instruction to which the text
ought to direct our attention, arises from this
fact, — That it represents to us a great and essen-
tial character of the Messiah's reign, described
by the prophecies of the Old Testament, and
brought directly home to the person and minis-
try of our Lord; literally verified by his preach-
ing and by his miracles in Judea; and after-
wards attached, by indelible memorials, to the
whole history and progress of the gospel.

This character of the Messiah's reign consists
of two important articles ; the relief which
Christianity provides for the miserable; and the
general instruction which it spreads among the
great mass of the people.

I shall consider it in both these views:

1. As it appeared in the miracles and in the
personal ministry of our Lord.

2. As it has followed and distinguished the
promulgation of the gospel, from the first age to
the present time. Ami,

i S

308 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10.

3. As it influences or determines the conduct
of individual men. I^et us attend to it,

I. As it appeared in the miracles and in the
personal ministry of our Lord.

The prophecies of the Old Testament contain
the most animated descriptions of the effects of
the Messiah's reign on the conditions of man-
kind ; and, in particular, of the power which he
was to employ in counteracting the miseries of
human life, and in spreading, among all the or-
ders of the people, the light and knowledge on
which the true interests and happiness of men
depend. " Then," said the prophet Isaiah,
" the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and
the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped ; then
shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the
tongue of the dumb shall sing *." " The poor
among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of
Israel \"

As far as these prophetic descriptions related
to the exercise of the Messiah's power in relie-
ving the miseries of the present life, and to his
personal ministry on earth, they are directly

* Isaiah xxxv. 5. 6. t Isaiah xxix. 19*

SjSR. 10. OF CHRISTIAN IT V. 305

applied by our Lord, in his answer to John's
disciples, to the miracles which he did in Judea,
and in particular to those which he did in their
presence. They were certainly intended to go
farther, and to represent the general spirit and
character of the dispensation of the gospel. But,
first of all, they were designed to represent the
grace and the miraculous powers, which the
Messiah was to exercise for the release and con-
solation of the miserable, in confirmation of his
mission and authority from Heaven. " Go,
and tell John what things ye have seen and
heard." If the miracles done in Judea, and
done before your eyes, were described before, as
the prophetic characters of the Messiah's power,
and as the signals of his reign; then is the Mes-
siah come indeed, and his reign on earth is now
begun.

The answer was complete, as addressed to
John, whether the facts referred to were consi-
dered, as the literal and exact fulfilment of the
prophecies concerning the Messiah, or as mira-
culous works which demonstrated the power of
God to reside in him who performed them.

The great character of the Messiah's reign

310 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10.

described by the prophets, which consisted in the
consolation and relief he was to bring to the af-
flicted and the miserable, is completely ascertain-
ed and verified in the person and in the miracles
of Jesus of Nazareth. The Messiah of the pro-
phets was " to comfort all who mourned :" And
in receiving the answer given them, the disci-
ples of John saw before them " a man like the
Son of God," at whose word, " the blind recei-
ved their sight, the lame Walked, the lepers were
cleansed, the deaf heard, the dead were raised
up." The laws of nature and providence were
equally subject to him, and yet all his power
was employed in mercy for the miserable ; " to
heal the sick, to raise the dead, to bind up the
broken heart." If this was the prophetic cha-
racter given to the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth
was truly the Messiah predicted, " in whom
dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily; and
those who were permitted to be witnesses of his
acts of power and mercy, saw " his glory, the glo-
ry as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of
grace and truth *."

* St John i. J 4.

SER. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 311

As the effects of supernatural power, the mi-
racles of our Lord were demonstrations of his
divine character and mission, and atVixed the at-
testation of Heaven to all that he taught and
suffered in the world. But as works of mercy
and compassion, done for the wretched and the
helpless, and done through all the land of Ju-
dea, they gave a character to the dispensation of
religion which his ministry was to establish, not
less peculiar or impressive, than the seal of au-
thority. Every where his miracles were done
with the same spirit and design ; not more as
acts of power, than as mercy and release to
suffering men. " He healed all manner of sickness
and disease among the people." He brought
back to a sound mind him whom Satan had brui-
sed. He restored even the dead to the prayer of
sorrow. With all nature and providence at his
command, his power was employed as the signal
of his compassions. Nothing was done to as-
tonish, and nothing to destroy; nothing to daz-
zle, or to confound the multitude. All was
done in mercy to helpless men, and done as the
opportunities naturally occurred. The meanest

312 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10.

of the people said not in vain to him, " Have
mercy on me."

It is evident that this character of the whole
series of our Lord's miracles*, as the ministry
of tenderness and compassion, effectually distin-
guishes them from all the other miracles record-
ed in the history of the world, and, as their pe-
culiar feature, must be inseparably affixed to the
spirit and design of the dispensation they were
intended to confirm.

The temper of our Lord himself is still more"
peculiar and impressive. It is impossible, with-
out emotion, to contemplate the tenderness with
which " he was touched With the feeling of
human infirmities :" To observe, how he look-
ed on the multitudes, when they brought him
" the lame, the blind, the dumb, the maimed,
and he healed them all :" — The sympathy with

* The miracle performed at Caiia in Galilee, the permission
given to the demons to take possession of the swine, and the
withered fig-tree, have been represented as exceptions to this
general doctrine. They are not really so. But enough has
been said by others on this topic, to render the discussion of if
Jtere quite unnecessary.

>HU. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 313

which he regarded the leper, who said to him,
"Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean,"
when, in mercy, he replied, "I will, be thou
clean:*" The kindness with which he addres-
sed the woman of Canaan, who pleaded for the
crumbs of the childrens bread; "O woman>
great is thy faith. Be it unto thee, even as thou
wilt : t" The tenderness with which he met
the widow of Nain, who followed her only son
to the grave ; " When he saw her, lie had com-
passion on her, and said unto her, Weep not ;"
" he touched the bier," and raised the young
man to life, "and delivered him to his mo-
ther : J" The peculiar emotions with which he
heard that his friend Lazarus was sick and was
dead : How he wept with his sisters, Martha
and Mary, as they followed him to the grave
of their brother; where, with visible emotion,
such as he did not often express, he called him
back from the dead, and restored him to his fa-
mily §: The tenderness and melting affection witli
which he prayed for his disciples in his agony,

* Matth. viii. 2. 3. | Matth. xv. 28.

t Luke vii. 13. 14. 15. § £t John xi. 1—45.

314 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10.

and commended them to God: The kindness
with which he forgave their infirmity, and the
affectionate terms in which he expressed his
compassion for them, "The spirit indeed is will-
ing, hut the flesh is weak:*" The compassion
which he could not with-hold even from the
servant of his murderers, when " he touched
his ear and healed himf," at the moment when
they led him away to be scourged and to be
crucified : The affection with which, from the
agonies of his cross, he commended his mother,
and the friend whom he loved, to each other's
tenderness and confidence : J And the fervour
with which, before he expired, he uttered this
prayer for his merciless tormentors, " Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they
do.§."

Certainly "this man was the Son of God." If
the ministry of compassion was to be the signal
of the Messiah's reign, Jesus of Nazareth was the
true Messiah, of whom all the prophets had

* Matth. xxvi. 41. f Luke xxii. 51.

I St John xix. 25—27- <$ Luke xxiii. 34.

SLR. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 315

spoken; and this was the living character of
liis reign begun*

But why do we not perceive, that the whole
object and design, fol which Christianity was
promulgated, leads directly to the same point?
The Son of God came into this world, " not to
destroy men's lives, but to save them*;" " not
to be ministred unto, but to minister, and to
give his life a ransom for many I;1' " to seek,
and to save, them who were lost;" to suffer,
that God might have mercy on them; to die,
that they might live; " to make peace by the
blood of his cross J ;" " That as sin had
reigned unto death, grace might reign by him,
through righteousness, unto eternal life§."

The great object of the gospel is good-will
from God to men ; mercy from Heaven to
sinners of the earth ; mercy to many, " by the
obedience of one." And one of its most im-
pressive lessons, to those who embrace it, must
therefore be, good-will from man to man;
mercy among men, who are deeply indebted to

• Luke ix. 56. f Matth. xx. 2S#

X Colos. i. '20, § Romans v. SI.

316 THE SPIRIT AXD EFFECTS SER. Wi

the mercy of God ; mercy to the helpless, and
kindness to him who has no friend. " Love one
another," said our Lord, " as I have loved you*."
" I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desi-
redst ; shouldst not thou also have had compas-
sion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on
theefP" " All the law is fulfilled in one word,
even this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself J :" And who our neighbour is, our
Lord has minutely taught us, in his parable of
the good Samaritan, who had mercy on the man
who fell among the thieves ; and of whom he
said to every one who heard him, " Go thou,
and do likewise §."

A general compassion for the condition of
the poor, the helpless, and the afflicted, was then
a great and essential character of the Messiah's
reign, as described by the prophecies of the Old
Testament, which was exactly verified and ex-
emplified in the miracles, and in the personal mi-
nistry of our Lord.

In what I have yet to say, I shall therefore

• St John xv. 12. f Matth. xviii. 32. 33.

t Galat. v. 14. § Luke x. 30— 37-

SER. 10. OF CKKIS1IANITY. 317

assume it as a fact, that this, which was one of
the leading or prominent features of the gospel,
when ° it began at the first to be spoken by the
Lord" himself, was intended by the wisdom of
God to become one of its essential and univer-
sal characters, in every period of its promulga-
tion.

There is one point, on this part of the sub-
ject, which is yet untouched ; the general in-
struction spread among the people by the pro-
mulgation of the gospel, during the course of
our Lord's personal ministry. The prophet had
said, that under the Messiah " the poor among
men were to rejoice in the Holy One of Israel ;"
and our Lord, referring to this prediction, di-
rected the disciples of John to the fact, that
" the gospel was preached to the poor;" and
certainly intended to hold out this circumstance,
as representing a peculiar character of the Chris-
tian dispensation.

Our Lord's ministry was, from its commence-
ment to its close, chiefly directed to the great body
of the people. He went constantly about,' preach-
ing the doctrines which he came to establish. He
delivered them publicly in the temple of Jerusa-

318 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10.

lem, in every city, in every synagogue, in every
quarter of Judea and Galilee. His manner of
teaching was adapted to the understandings and
to the conditions of ever)'- order of men; and great
multitudes followed him wherever he went, as-
tonished at his doctrines, and equally impressed
with the awe of his miracles, and with his ten-
der compassion for the miserable. The higher
orders of men were no otherwise the objects of
his attention, than as they mixed with the mul-
titudes who surrounded him, and sometimes
pressed forward to resist his influence among the
people, who were " ever attentive to hear him*,"
and " who heard him gladly f." Like no teach-
er before him, he went with his disciples pub-
licly through all the land, " preaching the king-
dom of God," and was attended by the multi-
tude of every city and district. He sent first the
twelve apostles, and afterwards " other seventy
disciples," that, by their separate labours, they
might carry on the great design of public teach-
ing among the people through all Judea; and en-
dowed them with miraculous powers, which

* Luke xix. 48. f Mark .\ii. 3?.

SER. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 319

gave a divine authority to their mission. More
than this could not then be done, to fulfil the pro-
phetic description of " the goapd preached to the
poor;" or of " the poor rejoicing in the Holy
One pf Israel;" or to verify, in the person of
Jesus as the true Messiah, " the Day-spring
from on high, giving light to them who sat in
darkness, — to guide their feet into the way of
peace*,"

Tllis then was the aspect of Christianity a-
mong the poor, during the personal ministry of
our Lord.

Before I attempt to trace its progress farther,
it is necessary to remark, that both the distin-
guishing characters which I have supposed to
belong to it, were at this period almost entirety
new to the- world, and are not to be found eithei
in the history or in the institutions of the an-
cient nation^.

W e are not to suppose men of any age or
country to have been destitute of the feelings of
humanity, or incapable of exercising them. But
those who arc acquainted with human, nature

Ac i. ?s.

320 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10.

know well, how these may be controuled or
perverted, by their superstitions, by their laws,
by their inveterate prejudices, or by their gene-
ral manners.

There were virtues amon°: the ancient nations
which we read with a glowing satisfaction, and
relate with pride and reverence. But their com-
passion for the helpless or the sick among the
people, the kindness of the great to the poor,
their provision for the old, or for the dying,
among the lower orders, or their general sym-
pathy with their conditions, were certainly not
among their virtues. Setting aside what we find
in the history of Judaism, there has not come
down to us one trace or vestige of compassion to
the miserable, to the sick, or to the dying, among
the common ranks of the people, which was
sanctioned by the religion, or by the govern-
ment, or by the institutions, or by the general
manners of any ancient nation.

This fact is so well established, that a seri-
ous argument has been maintained in modern
times, in defence of the ancient system of sla-
very, founded on the assertion that it held out

SRB. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 321

to the great body of the people the only effec-
tual security which they possessed, againt the
miseries of sickness, of famine, and of age*.

If this is in any respect a just view of the pre-
ceding ages, it is no wonder that it should be gi-
ven us as a distinctive character of the Messiah's
reign, that, as the great Deliverer and Restorer
of our fallen race, he was every where to heal
the sick, and gladden the blind, and bind up the
broken heart, and " to comfort all that mourn ;"
and that mercy to the miserable should be re-
presented to be as much a peculiar, as it is a
universal, character of the dispensation, over
which he presides f.

* Fletcher of Salton's political works, 2d Discourse on the
Affairs of Scotland, published in 169s.

We know besides^ that, among the Romans, the captives
taken in war were made slaves, in order to sav<> them from be-
ing put to death ; and that from this fact is derived the name
" Su\i," or " Servati," as explained in the Roman law: a
circumstance which equally ascertains the existence and die
inveteracy of the practice. " Servi autcm ex eo appellati
sunt, quod irnperatorea captivos vendere, ac per hoc senate,
nee occidere solent" — Justinian. Inslitut. Lib. 1. Tit. 3. § 3.
—Digest. Lib. jO. Tit. lo\ L. 239. § 1.

-}- It is a fact of great importance on this subject, that the
barbarous policy of reducing to slavery the captives taken in

X

322 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10.

The instruction of the great mass of the peo-
ple, was a circumstance not less new or peculiar.
The wisdom of the most enlightened nations of
antiquity was confined to the schools of their
philosophers. Their religion was wrapt up in
impenetrable fables and mysteries, which but a
few individuals were allowed to examine. The

war, was never abandoned, till it was effectually resisted by
Christianity. The Christians, from the earliest periods in
which they were engaged in wars, gaye an example to the
heathens, of preserving their captives, both from death and
from slavery. They did so, not only without any influence of
the governments under which they lived, but, in direct opposi-
tion both to inveterate practice, and to the laws which had
formerly existed ; though they sometimes accepted of a ransom
for the captives, whom they allowed to return to their own
country. " Sed et Christianis in universum placuit, bello in-
ter ipsos orto, captos Seryos non fieri, ita ut vendi possint, ad
operas urgeri, et alia pati quae servorum sunt : Merito sane ;
quia ab omnis caritatis commendatore rectius instituti erant,
aut esse debebant, quam ut a miseris hominibus interficiendis
abduci nequirent, nisi minoris sasvitiae concessione. Atque hoc
a majoribus ad posteros pridem transiisse inter ces qui eandem,
religionem profiterentur scripsit Gregoras (Lib. 4.) nee eorum
fuisse proprium qui sub Romano imperio viverent ; sed com-
mune cum Thessalis, Illyriis, Triballis, et Bulgaris. Atque
ita hoc saltern, qyanquam exiguum est, perfecit reverentia
Christianas legis ; quod cum Graecis inter se servandum olim
diceret Socrates nihil impetraverat." — Grotius de Jure Belli et
VaciSy Lib. 3. Cap. 7. Num. 9. § 1.

SKit. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 323

knowledge which the people at large were per-
mitted to acquire, was only calculated to rivet
on their minds the terrors of the most abject, ir-
rational, and depressing superstitions. While
the art of printing was not yet discovered, and
the people were effectually excluded from all the
means of information, which have become so ac-
cessible in modern times, all culture and all real
knowledge were of necessity confined to the
higher orders of men. The instruction of the
people could be no object of attention, and
never was attempted. They were universally
left to labour and to ignorance.

We may no doubt recollect, that in the free
states of Greece and Rome, a certain portion of
information was inseparable from the spirit of
liberty, and from the effects of the eloquence em-
ployed to work on the passions of the multitude,
either in public trials or political contentions But
it is not difficult to form an estimate of all the
useful knowledge, which can be traced to this
source, which, in its best state, had certainly lit-
tle influence to promote either the virtue or the
happiness of the people. And if this kind of
information is excepted, which was accessible to

x 2

324 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10.

a very inconsiderable number of the human race,
the people of the ancient world were effectually
excluded from every source of instruction be-
yond the perceptions or the observations of an
uncultivated mind *.

* The following observations of an eminent historian relate
directly to this subject.

" Instead of allowing any ray of that knowledge which
illuminated their own minds to reach the people, the philo-
sophers formed a theory to justify their own conduct, and to
prevent the darkness of that cloud which hung over the minds
of their fellow-men from being ever dispelled. The vulgar
and unlearned, they contended, had no right to truth. Doom-
ed by their condition to remain in ignorance, they were to be
kept in order by delusion, &c. In confirmation of this, I
might quote the doctrine of most of the philosophic sects, and
produce the words of almost every eminent Greek and Roman
writer. It will be sufficient, however, to lay before my readers,

a remarkable passage from Strabo," &c. Then follows a

long quotation from Strabo, Lib. 1. p. 36. which fully con-
firms the preceding observations.

The author goes on : — " These ideas of the philosophers of
Europe were precisely the same which the Brahmins had adopt-
ed in India, and according to which they regulated their con-
duct with respect to the great body of the people. Wherever
the dominion of false religion is completely established, the
body of the people gain nothing by the greatest improvements
in knowledge. Their philosophers conceal from them, with
the utmost solicitude, the truths which they have discovered,
and labour to support that fabric of superstition which it was
their duty to have overturned." — Robertson's Historical Dkt

Sfclt. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY". 32$

It was therefore no common attribute of pub-
lic teaching-, that it was given universally to all
the orders of human life; and it was, of conse-
quence, a character of the Messiah, as new as it
was peculiar, that he preached the gospel to all
the people, " to the wise and to the unwise,"
to the priests and to the slaves ; that he preach-
ed it through all the land; and preached it to
the lowest of mankind.

There is no doubt, that in Judea itself there
was more attention given, both to the relief and
the instruction of the people, than can be found
in the history of other ancient nations. The
Jews were universally trained in the knowledo-e
of their own religion. Its history, its doctrines,
its sanctions, its precepts, its rites, and its pri-
vileges, were equally open to them all. They
were taught by their Scriptures, to regard it both
as an obligation and as a happiness, " to consi-
der the poor*." They had all access to hear
their law read in their synagogues, and to hear
the explanations of it which were regularly gi-

quisition concerning Ancient India, Appendix, p. 331—334.
passim,

* Psalm xli. 1.

326 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10.

ven there; and, at least, a considerable number
of them could resort to the schools of the scribes
and doctors, who sat in the chair of Moses.

But we must be sensible, that Judea, compared
with the rest of the world, comprehended so small
a proportion of the human race, that the institu*
tions, which were confined to that district, could
have no general effect on the state of the world;
and that even after the Jews were generally spread
through the Roman empire, neither their know-
ledge nor their usages were found to be incor-
porated with the manners of the Gentile na-
tions.

We ought to consider besides, on the one handj
that the dispensation of the Jews was intended
to be the preparation for the gospel, and that it
made a part of the same system which was per-
fected by the Messiah ; and, on the other hand9
that the compassion for the miserable, and the
general instruction given to the great body of
the people, which are impressive characters of
our Lord's ministry, go so far beyond the prac-
tice and institutions of the Jews, as to leave them
completely out of our view ; and, while " the
law is regarded as the school to bring us to'

oER. 10. OF CHRISTIANITF. 327

Christ*," present themselves irresistibly to our
thoughts, as new and distinctive characters of
the last and greatest dispensation.
Let us now observe, as was proposed,
II. Mow far the relief of the miserable, and
the general instruction of the people, given us as
the prophetic characters of the Messiah's reign,
have followed or distinguished the gospel, from
the first age of its promulgation to the present
times.

It might well be supposed, that, after our Lord's
ascension, the apostles would preserve a strong
impression of his miracles, of his public instruc-
tion, and of his temper of mind; and that it must
have been their first object, to accomplish the
end of their apostleship in the same spirit. They
were besides inspired by " the Holy Ghost sent
down from heaven," and all their views and their
activity were directed by his influence on their
minds. They were endowed with miraculous
powers, to be exercised in confirmation of their
mission and authority. They healed the sick>
they restored the lame, they raised the dead,

* Galat. iii. 24.

328 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10.

And we must be sensible^ that the miracles done
by the apostles, and the exercise of miraculous
powers, as long as they were permitted in the
primitive church, bare the same general and pe-
culiar characters which we have found in the
miracles of our Lord, whose name and authori-
ty accompanied them. They were universall}'
the pledges and the instruments of mercy to the
afflicted, and of kindness to the poor. In this
point, therefore, Christianity preserved the pe-
culiarity of its original aspect, during the ministry
of the apostles; and, at whatever time the exer-
eise of miraculous powers ceased, continued to
make effectual provision for the poor, at least du-
ring the first two hundred years of its promulga-
tion; while it maintained the struggle, in which
it prevailed at last, against the superstitions of
the heathens, and the persecutions which they
excited against the Christians.

The manner in which the care of the poor
was regulated among the first believers, deserves
our particular attention. After our Lord's ascen-
sion, and the descent of the Holy Ghost on the
apostles, when they were commissioned to pro-
mulgate the gospel, and establish it among all

<ER. 10. OV CHRISTIANITY. 32.9

nations, " beginning at Jerusalem," they began to
give a regular shape and form to the institutions
of Christianity, and to the church of Christ: And,
next to their principal object, which was to preach
the doctrine of salvation and of the remission of
sins, by the death and resurrection of the Lord,
they turned their first solicitude to the relief of
their destitute brethren. From the time when three
thousand men were converted, by the preaching
of Peter on the day of Pentecost, the care of the
poor became a matter of " daily ministration."

At first the contributions of the church were
delivered to the apostles themselves, " and dis-
tribution was made (by them) to every man ac-
cording as he had need*." Afterwards, when
the number of the believers was greatly increa-
sed, and the Grecian converts had murmured
against the Hebrews, asserting that their widows
had not received their full proportion, the apos-
tles found it necessary (that they might be able
" to give themselves entirely to prayer and to
the ministry of the word)," to devolve the care
of the distribution on " seven men of honest re-
port, full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom,"

* Acts iv. 35.

330 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. id*

who were chosen by the whole multitude of the
Christians, and were specially ordained for this
service*.

This mode of administration, once established,
accompanied the promulgation of the gospel,
and, though with such variations as the circum-
stances of particular cases required, became a
settled ordinance in the churches planted by the
apostles.

The funds provided arose, among the first con-
verts, from the liberality of the rich, who " sold
their goods and possessions f," that they might ef-
fectually enable the apostles to meet the necessities
of the poor : " For the multitude of them who be-
lieved were of one heart and one soul ; neither
said any of them that aught of the goods he posses-
sed was his own, but they had all things com-
mon J." Afterwards, when the gospel was spread
from Asia to Europe, we find the benevolence of
the distant churches united, to supply the wants
of the poorer districts : And while this was done,
we find an expedient suggested, under the au-
thority of an apostolical advice, which has since
been adopted, with great advantage, in the pro-

* Acts vi. 1-6. t Acts iv. 34. 35. 36. 37.

% Acts iv. 32.

3ER. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 331

gress of the Christian church, by which every one
of the believers " laid by him in store, on the
first day of the week," whatever he could afford
to give, for the relief of the sick, or of the poor,
" as God had prospered him *." One other
circumstance was added to the benevolence of
the faithful, in the care and tenderness of the
apostles and of the elders of the church; for it
became an essential part of their duty, to visit
the sick, and pray with them, comforting and
strengthening them " in the name of the Lord f."

I have mentioned these facts minutely, be-
cause, excepting what was done among the Jews,
they created the first regular institutions for the
relief of the poor, which are to be found in the
annals of the ancient world ; because they repre-
sent the means, by which the inspired apostles
followed out, what I have shewn to be, a o-reat
and essential character affixed by our Lord to the
new dispensation ; and because they lie at the
foundation of all that has ever been done, under
the form of religion, or by public institutions, for
the relief of the helpless and the poor, in the
subsequent ages.

While Christianity silently pervaded the Ro*

• 1 Cor. xvi. 2. f James v. 14.

332 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10;

man empire, and the Christians were sometimes
persecuted, and sometimes allowed to live in
peace, the rules laid down by the apostles were
generally observed among them ; the union
which they preserved among themselves, and
their care of the sick and of the poor, rendering
them objects of respect, even among those who
rejected their faith.

We have many descriptions of the Christian
alms-giving from the writers of the first century,
who uniformly represent it as an essential part of
the character of true believers, and enforce it as
an essential duty, from the considerations which
Christianity afforded them. And Justin Martyr,
who wrote, about the 40th year of the second
century, the Apologies for the Gospel, which he
presented to the Senate of Rome, and to the Em-
peror Antoninus Pius, has given us a minute ac-
count of the management of the Christian chari-
ties at that period, which corresponds exactly
with the practice introduced by the apostles.
When he is describing the manner in which the
Christian worship was celebrated on the first day
of the week ; as a part of the service of the
Christians on that day, he has given us the fol-

SLU. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 333

lowing- description of their alms : " The wealthy
and charitable," he says, " give, every man ac-
cording to his own pleasure, whatever they are
willing to give. What is thus collected is placed
with him who presides in the assemhly, and he
employs it (either personally, or by the deacons
mentioned in the preceding- sentence), for the
assistance, of orphans and widows, of those who
are forsaken on account of disease or for any
other cause, of those who are in bonds, of' stran-
gers who come from a distance; and, in general,
he becomes a curator (or takes on himself the
charge) of all who are in want*."

* The whole paragraph deserves to be transcribed, and trans-
lated. It is as follows ;

Kca rr\ r.ov rjhiov t.eyofAivy ripegu, tuvtw kktcc
5TGAS/; r\ ayooug pivovrw itti to olvto (ruvsXevtrtg
yiviraiy xcti tu. ano(Avr,u,onvtji,uTot tuv uzotrroXtav,
■/] to. G-vyy3uu.u,ctTcc ruv Tr^riTU)/ uvuyivua-KiTOLi
pt%Z'$ syZ^zt. UTci Kuv<raiAc>ov rov ctvctyivcorxov-
Tog, o KsoifTuj; diet Xoyov rrjv vovOqtrictv xcti xpo-
xXrja-iv rr,g tuiv xuXuv tovtuv pi u,r;o~ sag koimtcu'
iTrtiTu, una- Tctu.il) a. xoivrj xctVTig, xu.) 6U£aj'Te'(a,To-
fttt* xui, ug Kooztprjutv, nuvrupevcov ripav Trig *v-
'X/1S, ctfTog %£0<r$i:iTtt.i xcti oUog xu.) vtiuo' xui Q
Tgoio-Tug sv^ctg ouowg xect tv^aPio-Ttug o<r/) twa-

334 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 1Q.

There is no reason therefore to suppose, that,
in this point, the Christian discipline was in any
respect changed before the time of Justin; nor

fiig ccvto) avoixefAirsii xcu o Xocog ztzv$71{as7 Xsyuv
to kfiviv' Ka; r\ diccdorig xcci v\ ^sto&Xjj^/js c&xo
tuv iuyoL^tffTyihvToiv zxatrra yivsroctt xcci Toig ou
irctgoviri face, rav faazovuv vefAK&TUi. Oi svirogovv-
reg fa zai fiovhoy^voi, accrot, Kgoougsanv ezcurrog tyiv

iOCVTOVf oQouX&TCbl QlQp&l' Kdl TO ffvKKiyOfMVOV "XCL-

gu, to) vrgozfTuri otiroTiO&roih %oit avrog srjfcoy^gt
ogfyavoig ts xctt y/lgctig, %ui Toig fact voffov h oi aX«
Xqv uiTiocv XsiftOftivotgi xcci Toig ev fatrpotg ovtrTif
zui Toig KugusftidrifAoig oviti %evoig9 %xi u.K'hug itoitn
Toig &» %fs<a ov<rt xqfafAcav yiveT&i,

" On the day which is called Sunday, all the inhabitants
of the towns, and of the neighbouring country, assemble toge-
ther in one place. The history of the Acts of the Apostles,
or the writings of the prophets, are then read, as long as the
time will permit. Next, the reader having ceased, the person
presiding, in a discourse, exhorts and admonishes the people
to the imitation of those excellent examples. We then all
rise up and pray ; and, as we have said, when our prayers
are ended, bread is brought, and wine, and water (for the
observation uf the Lord's supper, explained in the preceding
paragraph J. After this, the person presiding offers up
the most fervent prayers and thanksgivings; and the people
cry out joyfully, saying, Amen. At the same time, there is a
distribution and communication made, from the thank-offerings,
to eyery one uho is in need; and to those who are absent.

SEil. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY". 335

have we any ground for believing, that it was
materially altered during the course of the three
first centuries, or before Christianity was ac-
knowledged by the laws of the empire. With-
in that period, the gospel had been sent to al-
most every quarter of the world, which was
then known. As early as the end of the second
century, Tertullian has told us, that the Chris-
tians were even then sufficiently numerous, to
have defended themselves effectually against the
persecutions excited against them by the hea-
thens, if their religion had permitted them to
have recourse to the sword *.

Proceeding on these facts, and supposing the
gospel to have carried, as it certainly did, into
every assembly where a Christian church was
planted, that peculiar character impressed on it
by its Author, by which it provided, on the first
day of every week, for the afflicted and the
poor, and sent the Christians every where " to

their portion is sent by the deacons. But the wealthy and
charitable give," &c. — Justin. Martyr. Apologia 2da ad Anton.
Pium Imperat. p. <j8. 91). Lutct. Paris, l6l5.

* " Si eniih et hostes exertos, non tantum vindices occu).
tos, agere vellemus, deesset nobis vis nurtierorum et copiarum ?''
— Tatnl'.ian. Jpuloget. cap. 37-

336 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10-

feed the hungry," " to clothe the naked," and
to comfort the sick and the mourning: — Sup-
posing the faithful, as numerous as they are sta-
ted to have been, constantly put in remembrance
of " the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said,
" It is more blessed to give than to receive*," and
"In as much as ye have clone it to one of the
least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto
mef:" Supposing this, I say, to have been, in
general, a true representation of the church,
at the period which I am now considering ;
it is impossible not to perceive, how great the
change must have been, which Christianity had
then produced, on the circumstances of the
world, or how extensive its influence then was,
on the conditions of human life.

We are accustomed to see alms-giving gene-
rally diffused, even among those who feel no very
strong impressions from the Christian doctrine ;
and are apt to ascribe this circumstance to causes
very different from that to which alone it owes its
origin. Lut it is impossible to consider the facts
which I have represented, without allowing tha{;
Christianity alone brought into the world, the

* Acts xx. 35. f Miitth. xxv. 45.

10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 337

kindness to the poor, and mercy to the helpless,
which have universally attended its progress;
( )r that its effects on the conditions of mankind,
by means of this single circumstance, and before
it received any sanction from public authority,
must have been of the most extensive and im-
pressive kind. It was the Messiah's reign, " the
ministry of reconciliation" from heaven to earth,
which first effectually inculcated, and spread a-
mong the nations, good-will from man to man.
I have no occasion to trace its progress far-
ther; for, from the time when Christianity be-
came the religion o( the empire, public institu-
tions of beneficence were every where establish-
ed : Institutions to provide for the orphan, for
the widow, for the sick, for the dying, and for
every description of the poor: Institutions inter-
woven more with the laws of religion than with
the political systeni of any country ; ami mani-
festly the effects and the result of the doctrines of
Christianity on the spirit of nations. The Em-
peror Julian mentions in a letter to a priest of
C; alalia, and mentions it as a reproach to the
worshippers of his own gods, that " the impious
Galileans (for so he termed the Christians), not

y

538 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10.

only provided for their own poor, but even for
the poor of the heathens among whom they li-
ved*."

* Sozomeni Hist. Ecrfes. lib. v. cap. l6\ Juliani Imperatoris
Epistolx, edit. Paris, 1630, pag. 204. Epistola ad Arsacium
Pontificem Galatice.

There is much information with regard to the progress,
as well as the corruptions, of beneficent institutions, in
" Father Paul's History of Ecclesiastical Benefices and Reve-
nues."

In his 2d and 3d chapters, he traces the practice of the pri-
mitive church, with regard to the poor ; and afterwards the
gradual progress and effects of Christian beneficepce in the
subsequent ages.

" At Rome, where the greatest wealth abounded, the of-
ferings were so large, that about the year 150, they served
not only to maintain the clergy and the poor Christians of the
city, but to contribute largely to the neighbouring and more
remote churches, as well as to the relief of great numbers of
Christian captives, in the several provinces, and of such as
Were condemned to the mines." Ch. Hi. p. 7-

" St John Chrysistom raaketh mention, that (in his time,
and he died in 407) the church of Antioch fed more than
3000 mouths. It is also certain, that the church of Jerusa-
lem defrayed the expences of an infinite number of people,
who resorted thither from all parts. And we find in history,
that Atticus, Bishop of Constantinople, assisted the church of
Nice in Bithynia, on occasion of a concourse of poor people
to that city, -wherein "were numbered ten thousand in one day?
Ch. vi. p. 16. 17-

oFR. 10. OF CIIRI^TIANITV. 339

It deserves to he added, that in this point the
influence of the gospel has been extended even
for heyond the hounds of the Christian church.

* In Hie Theodosian code, we find a law of Constan*
tint- and Julian, bearing date in the year 359, which ixcmpts
the trading clergy from paying duties, because all they gained

* to the poor. So far weic they from dividing the reve-
nues of the church among themselves (as was unhappily too
much the practice afterwards), that even their gains they
threw into the common stock." Cli. vii. p. 18. 1<).

Aim the eastern and western empires were torn asun-
der from each other, the government of the churches also
took another form. The eastern church kept still the esta-
blished usage of living in common. Hut in the western, the
Bishops, from being supervisors and administrators of the

nuei, began to use them as if they were their own ; and
to assume a sort of absolute power in their disposition. It
y>as therefore ordered in the western church, about the
year 470, that a division should be made into four parts:
The fust was to go to the Bishop; the second to the rest
of the clergy; the third to the fabric of the church (in
which, besides that, properly BO called, was also compre-
hends! the habitation of the Bishop, of the other clergy,
of the sick, and of tin- widows) ; and the fourth part went
to the poor: Which in m6st churches, according to St Gre-
gory, included Oflly the poor of the place; Foif hospitality
Mraa incumbent only on the Bishop, who was obliged, out
of bis own share, to lodge all the stranger clergy, and to de-
li ay the axpencci of the poor, who came from abroad." Ch,
vii. p. 17. 18.

Y 2

34Q THE SPIRJT ANP EFFECTS SER. 10.

The Mahomedan superstition professes to be
built on the authority of the gospel : and from
this source, it has certainly derived all the cha-
rities to the pilgrim, all the care of the poor, and
all the compassion for the sick, so conspicuously
engrafted on its perverted system; the influence
of the gospel being thus employed indirectly, by
the wisdom of God, to soften and to ameliorate
the conditions of myriads of men, who do not
acknowledge the Messiah's reign.

" All the Fathers who haye written before the division
was made of the goods of the church into four parts, have
agreed that they belonged to the poor ; and that the eccle-
siastic minister had no other right in them, but to managr,
direct, and dispense, according to those necessities. Yet all
the ecclesiastics had not the management of the church estates,
though they were maintained out of them, as well as the
widows, the poor, and other miserable objects ; But this care,
after the example, left by the apostles, was committed to the
deacons, subdeacons, and other economists, who gave account
to the Bishop, and in some places to tf»p Presbytery. Ch.
lii. p, 240, 241. — Father Paul's History of Eccles. Benefices,
etc, translated by M. Amelot de la Houssaie. Westminster,

1727-

Every thing is abused, which depends on the agency of men.
But the effects of Christianity on the condition of the sick
and of the poor, were not completely lost, even in the dark
ages; and will never be separated from the influence and
success of the gospel.

SER. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 341

At the same time, it is impossible not to ob-
serve, among men professing Christianity, in
how many forms even the care of the miserable
has been made the instrument of corruption :
How often it has been subservient to< the worst
designs, and to the worst passions of worldly
men; and how often the depravity of man-
kind employs it, to compensate the most fla-
grant violations of their duties to Christ and to
God.

I mention this fact for the sake of remarking
on the one hand, That much practical good has
been done in the world by the influence of the
gospel, even on those who do not imbibe its spi-
rit, or submit to its authority; and, on the other
hand, That the gospel is, in every age, precisely
what it was, when it was promulgated by the
apostles j and that it universally attains its ends,
not only by means of those who sincerely em-
brace it, but as efficiently, by means of their
influence on other men; for the advantage of
human life, for the comfort and salvation of
those who believe, and for the glory of God by
Christ.

On this part of the subject I have still to ob-

342 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10.

serve, That the general instruction given to the
great body of the people, and begun by our
Lord's ministry, has universally accompanied
the mercy to the poor and the afflicted, diffused
by the gospel through every land. This was,
in fact, the great and peculiar instrument, which
Christianity employed for the conversion of the
world. Christ sent forth his apostles, to speak
to every man in his own tongue, and to address
his doctrines universally, without distinction or
reserve, to the great mass of the people; to "the
Gentile and to the Jew" " to the barbarian, to
the Scythian, to the bond, and to the free."
Contrary to all the practice which had hitherto
prevailed, with regard to the knowledge which
was in the world before, " it pleased God, by
the foolishness of preaching," and of preaching
to all the people, " to save them that believe*."
It is impossible to calculate the effects of the
knowledge which was rapidly spread from Ju~
dea through all the world. " The people who
sat in darkness, and in the shadow of death, saw
•n deed a great light;" and the knowledge of the

• l Cor i. 2!

SElt. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 343

doctrine of salvation by the Son of God, was
followed by a thousand sources of light and in-
formation, from which the people had been ef-
fectually excluded in all the preceding age* In-
died, the effect of the promulgation of Christi-
anity to all orders of men, to disseminate every
other species of information, as well as its own
peculiar doctrines, and its immediate and general
influence on the manners and character of those
who embraced it, cannot be either questioned
or disguised, by those who have bestowed any at-
tention on the history of the times. The Empe-
ror Julian, who renounced Christianity, and who
laboured, with indefatigable zeal, to bring back
the people to the ancient superstitions, saw so
much of the effects of the Christian discipline,
and of the regular instruction given by the mi-
nisters of the gospel to the great body of the peo-
ple, that, with a view to give the same advanta-
I to the heathen superstitions, he proposed a
form of discipline, a system of public instruction,
and even an institution for alms, after the model
of the Christian churches, to be adopted and in-
corporated in the temples of idolatry *. No con-

• Sozuim-ni Hist. F.cclcs lil>. :>, cap. 16*. Juliani Opera, j .

S44 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10,

sequences followed from this design ; for before
the experiment could be tried, the Emperor's
death put an end to all his frenzy. The fact,
however, is a demonstration from the mouth of
an enemy, of the power and success, with which
Christianity was seen to have spread a general
light and knowledge among the people.

The corruptions in the Christian church,
which were imperceptibly multiplied till they
at last produced the monstrous usurpations of
the Church of Rome, gave the first great check
to the general information, which Christianity
had diffused. After the people were no longer
permitted to read the Scriptures, and were con-
fined to a worship performed in an unknown
tongue, the human understanding was soon in
worse fetters, than it had ever worn ; and the ig-
norance and barbarism of the dark ages followed.

On the other hand, it is a fact equally certain,
that the reformation and revival of the Christian
church in the sixteenth century, was the signal
of light and knowledge returning to the world.

529, 530; where many eircumstanfces aire stated which plainly
allude to the same things, though without any direct mention
•f the Christian institutions.

SfeR. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY^ 345

The general knowledge of the Scriptures diffu-
sed among the people, — the zealous and en-
lightened exhortations of the first reformers,—
the art of printing, begun at this critical time, —
tlie books which the Reformation produced and
circulated, — created a new aera in the history of
the world ; and spread, more than ever, the
sources of substantial information through every
country.

We have been more indebted for the supe-
rior lioht of modern times, and for the modern
improvements in every art and science, to the
influence of Christianity, and to the means of
information which it has created ; to the effects
of its doctrines, of its spirit, and of its progress;
than to all other causes whatsoever. " The
gospel, preached to the poor," has added much
indeed, to the resources, both of the rich and of
the wise ; and has done so, by preserving in its
progress, the same general and peculiar charac-
ters, with which it was at first promulgated by
Christ and his apostles.

The facts which I have stated under this
head, are of great importance in themselves;
and, I trust, they will at least be thougfit sufficient
to establish the general conclusion, for the sake

34$ THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS S£R. 10.

of which I have produced them, to wit, that the
relief of the miserable, and the general instruc-
tion of the poor, essential and peculiar charac-
ters of the Messiah's reign, as described by the
prophets, and which were exactly verified in the
miracles and in the personal ministry of our
Lord, have followed and distinguished the pro-
mulgation of the gospel, in every age ; and are
attached, by indisputable facts, to its whole his-
tory and progress.

There is yet one branch of the subject remain-
ing. I proposed to consider,

III. The peculiar character, which I have il-
lustrated as belonging to the Messiah's reign, as
it influences or determines the conduct of indi-
vidual men.

The effects of Christianity, on the condition
of the world, are universally produced, by means
of its influence on the characters of individuals.
But, as I have already stated, they are the result
of its influence on those who do not believe, as
well as of its energy among those who sincerely
embrace it.

It is perfectly obvious, that no man sincerely
receives the gospel for his own salvation, to

.Ell. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 347

whom it does not become a settled and determi-
nate object through life, to assist the helpless, to
comfort the sick, " to give alms of such things
as lie has;" and, within his own sphere, to do
his utmost for the promulgation of the gospel,
and for the general instruction and edification of
the people. With all the variety of means and
talents, by which our conditions are diversified,
every man can do something in his own place,
to follow out the spirit of Christianity in these
points, for the glory of God, and for the
advantage of human life. What cannot be
done by superior talents, may be often pro-
moted by means of wealth ; and, where wealth
has not been given, by means of good sense,
of private influence, of zealous endeavours, of
personal virtues, or of prayers to God. From
the beginning of the gospel to the present
hour, we must suppose every good man to
have laboured in this service, though with
more and less success, and even with more
and less fidelity, according to the degree of
his faith and ardour, of his good sense and
patience. We must suppose the multitude of
true believers, in all ages and countries, to have

348 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10,

laboured earnestly separately or together, to
bring home, by their personal exertions* the
peculiar mercy of the gospel to the afflicted, and
its light and salvation to the poor. We must
suppose, from the promises and from the grace
of God, notwithstanding all the corruption of
the world, that the effect of their labours, in the
spirit of their Master, has at all times been con-
siderable, to render the Messiah's reign, what it
professes to be, The universal blessing of hea-
ven to men ; a light to enlighten the nations,
and " comfort to them who mourn ;" as well
as " salvation to the ends of the earth."

The more attentively we consider the his-
tory of individual believers, we see so much
the more of the perpetual effect of their la-
bours, to ameliorate the conditions of human
life, and to bring home to the circumstances
of all orders of men, the peculiar characters of
the gospel, which I have attempted to illus-
trate. " Ye are the light of the world */*
said our Lord, " and ye are the salt of the
earth |."

* Matth. v. 14. f Matth. v. 13.

SEU. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 349

But I have affirmed, that the influence of
Christianity is far from having heen confined, in
any age, to the personal lahours of the individu-
als who have sincerely embraced it. Much has
also been done, by means of their influence on
other men ; and by means of the general spirit,
especially with regard to the points before us,
which the gospel has spread through the world.

On the one hand, charity to the poor, and
compassion for the sick, the relief of helpless
men, and a general inclination to ameliorate their
conditions, the assistance to be given to the in-
stitutions of beneficence, the means to be em-
ployed for the purposes of public instruction or
reformation, and the disposition among men of
the most opposite characters to promote them,
have become virtues of humanity, independent
of religion. Much good has every where been
done, where the direct influence of Christianity
on individual men has been small indeed; much
good, which, after the facts are considered, which
I have brought, from the condition of the ancient
world, and from the history and progress of
Christianity, must, in good sense and reason, be
exclusively imputed to the effects of the pecu-

350 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 1Q.

liar character of the gospel, on the general tem-
per and conditions of mankind. We may allow
ourselves to believe, that we find the beneficence
of unprincipled men, and the beneficence of
unbelievers, in the laws and sympathies of hu-
man nature. But we shall not be able to shew,
that they have ever been either generally or ex-
tensively realised, except where the gospel has
gone before to prepare the way.

On the other hand, it is equally true, that
there are multitudes of men, far removed, in
their personal conduct, from the spirit of real
Christianity, who have adopted the virtues of
charity to the sick, to the youth, and to the
poor, as if they comprised the substance of all
practical duty and religion. By the misinter-
pretation of a text, which they have learned
from their jTouth to pervert; a text which says,
that " charity shall cover the multitude of
sins*;" a text, which, in its true meaning, re-
lates, not to charity or alms, but to the kindness
or partial affection, which leads us to forget, or
to cover, the faults of those whom we love: By

* 1 Peter if. 8. Prov. x. 12o

SER. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 351

the misinterpretation of this text, and by other
considerations which they have adopted, with as
little thought or reflection, they allow themselves
to believe, in contradiction to the whole object
and design of the gospel, that works of bene-
ficence will be accepted, at the tribunal of God,
in place of personal godliness ; or will be sufficient
to compensate, not only the neglect or violation
of many duties, but the commission of many
positive and deliberate sins, in their personal
conduct.

I cannot at present lay open either the folly
or the mischiefs, which this kind of persuasion
has spread through the world ; though I admo-
nish you in the name of the Lord, that the doc-
trine which is employed to sooth or to encou-
rage it, is of the most pernicious tendency; and
that it is charity of the best kind, to undeceive
men on a subject, which is of equal importance
to their present duties, and to ail their eternal
interests.

But I have mentioned this fact, as another
demonstration of the influence of Christianity,
by means of individuals who do not sincerely
embrace it, to accomplish its ends in the world ;

35'2 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10.

and in particular, to render even them the in-
struments of mercy to the miserable, and of in-
struction to the poor.

If the particulars, which I have stated, shall he
combined, I trust they will be found to establish
one general and important doctrine, to wit, that;
relief to the miserable, and the general instruc-
tion of the poor, essential characters of the Mes-
siah's reign, as described by the prophets, were
leading and peculiar features of the gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ, as it was promulgated
by himself and his apostles ; that they have
universally followed its progress, through all the
ages and countries which it has hitherto reach-
ed; and that, as well by means of those who
have not believed, as of those who have sincerely
embraced it, they have universally produced the
most extensive and salutary effects, on the con-,
ditions of human life.

There cannot be stronger considerations ur-
ged from experience, to persuade us, that the
gospel will reach the latest ages, with the same
living and peculiar characters; and that every
succession and generation of men, among whom
it shall in any degree attain its ends, must expe-

sLH. 10. OP CHRISTIANITY. 353

rience its efficacy by means of the same kind.
" Christ is set for salvation to the ends of the
earth," and to the latest ages : and where-
ever the habitations of men are found, the
" Sun of Righteousness shall at last arise, with
healing in his wings*."

Can we have stronger motives, than these con-
siderations afford us, to relieve the sick, to com-
fort the mourners, and to send instruction to the
poor •? Even those who do not believe, are the
instruments of God in the world ; and they
have at least the satisfaction to think, that the
good which they do, is not useless, notwith-
standing the corrupt sources from which it
springs.

But if we are indeed in earnest in embracing
the gospel, for our own salvation, and for the
service of God, both in this world, and in the
world to come, it is certain, that we cannot em-
ploy our talents or our ardour, with too much
solicitude, to relieve the miseries of our fellow-
creatures, or to promote their comfort and sal-
vation. " Our labour is not in vain in, the.

* Malachi iv. 2,
Z

354 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 1Q,

Lord." It will not be lost to those for whose ad-
vantage we labour, or lost, as " the testimony of
Jesus" in the world ; " and in due time we
shall reap, if we faint not." " I was hungry,"
said our Lord, " and ye gave me meat ; I was
thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was a stran-
ger, and ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed
me j I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in
prison, and ye came unto me. For inasmuch
as ye have done it to one of the least of these
my brethren, ye have done it uuto me*."

Ye have at this moment before you one de-
scription of helpless men, who plead powerfully
to engage your compassion ;— -a description of
men, who, when the gospel began to be spoken
by the Lord, never cried in yarn, " Jesus, thou
son of David, have mercy on us."

Blind by the hand of God, and, left to them-
selves, completely helpless, they are here to be
trained, by your assistance, to industry and com-
fort among their brethren. The institution for
their benefit, new in this country, has hitherto
prospered by the blessing of God; and its ad-

* M^tth. xxv. 35. 36. 40.

3ER. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 355

vantages have exceeded the expectations which
were formed of it.

I commend them to your kindness,— to the
sympathy of your hearts, — to the help of the
rich, — to the blessing of the liberal hand, — to the
faithful and tried beneficence of good men,
" who know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ."
" The blessing of them who were ready to perish
comes" not in vain upon the earth. " He who
hath pity on the poor lendeth unto the Lord ;
and that which he hath given, will he pay him
ajrain*.

* Prov. xix. 1 ?.

.

SERMON XL

ON

THE UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION OF
CHRISTIANITY.

MATTHEW XXIV. 14.

" And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preach*
ed in all the world, for a witness to all nations,
and then shall the end come"

I here are two subjects mixed together in
this chapter, which, to be well understood, must
be precisely distinguished. It begins with our
Lord's prediction, concerning the destruction of
the Jewish temple; an event naturally involv-
ed in the destruction of Jerusalem, which is re-
presented in the concluding part of the preced-
ing chapter. The twelve disciples, with all the
prejudices of Jews, regarded the destruction of

SER. 11. OF THE GOSPEL. 357

Jerusalem, and the end of the world, as events
which were to happen together; not being,
even at this time, sufficiently enlightened in the
doctrine of their Master, to understand the tem-
porary and subordinate design of the Jewish dis-
pensation;

In putting the question to our Lord, concern-
ing the time when his prediction was to be ac»
complished, they applied it indiscriminately to
both these events, " When shall these things
be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming,
and of the end of the world*?''

Without correcting their mistake in explicit
terms, our Lord gives them a variety of signs,
by which they might know with certainty the
approach of the predicted destruction of Jerusa-
lem. But these he intermixes indirectly, with
such intimations concerning " the end of the
world," as were sufficient, when his doctrines
should be better understood, to ascertain the pe-
riod of this great event, as not only entirely
distinct from the destruction of the Jewish city
and temple, but as far more remote.

One of the chief circumstances, which belongs

* Mattb. xxiv, 5.

358 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 11.

exclusively to the signs, with which he connects
" the end of the world," is contained in this
text, &nd relates to tlie Universal promulgation
of the gospel, before " the end shall come."
" This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached
in all the world, for a witness untd all nations ;
and then shall the end Come."

This declaration, given us by the Author of
the gospel himself, is of as much importance to
the present age, as it was to the age of the apos-
tles : and will naturally lead lis to consider the
following points of doctrine, which cannot be
uninteresting to those, who derive their consola-
tions from the gospel.

It supposes,

1. That Christianity was not designed to be-
come at once universal ; and that its universal
promulgation was intended to be the Work of
ages.

2. That the gospel must " be preached in
all the world," before " the end shall come."

3. That, whatever degree of success or of ne-
glect may attend it, the gospel is designed to
serve, among all nations, " as a witness," or as a
testimony, from God to men. And,

iER.il. t)P THE GOSPEL. 359

4. That, after the gospel shall be effectually
promulgated to every nation under heaven,
" then shall the end come," or, the final disso-
lution of the world.

I shall, in this discourse, confine my atten-
tion to the first and second of these views of the
text.

We are incompetent judges of the government
of God; and almost every different view of it
presents to us difficulties, which are beyond the
sphere of our limited understandings. If we can
only ascertain the facts, which are interesting
to ourselves, and the practical consequences of
them, which are to influence our conduct, we
ought to be satisfied with the information afford-
ed us ; though we must be sensible, that there
is a great variety both of facts and appearances,
which are above our reach.

With this impression on our minds, let us
consider,

I. That Christianity, according to the lan-
guage of this text, was not designed to become
at once universal ; and that its universal pro-
mulgation was intended to be the work of ages.

360 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. ll*

I use the term universal in its most compre-
hensive sense. For it is evident* that the gene-
ral promulgation of the gospel to Jews and Gen-
tiles, began immediately after the day of Pente*
cost which followed our Lord's resurrection ;
arid that> after the first dispersion of the primi-
tive believers, it was gradually spread, by their
means, and by the labours of the apostles, through
all the provinces of the Roman empire. It is
also plain, that our Lord could not mean to say,
that the gospel was to become absolutely uni-
versal at first, when he connected the universali-
ty of its promulgation with " the end of the
world ;" and that he must have intended to affirm,
that, by whatever gradations its progress was to
be carried on, its ultimate universality was cer-
tain, though it was to be the work of time.

The success of the gospel in the apostolic age,
when it is connected with the circumstances
which accompanied it, is beyond all doubt the
most unexampled fact in the history of the
world. By means of a few friendless men, all of
them, but one, taken from the lowest and most
illiterate orders of their country; with all the

SER. 11. OF THE GOSPEL. 36l

powers of the world against them, and their own
countrymen their inveterate persecutors ; with
no weapons but the force of truth, and the mi-
racles which they did in the name of the Lord ;
the gospel made its way, and most commonly,
by a silent and imperceptible progress, from pro-
vince to province, and from one city to ano-
ther, till, without any external help or protec-
tion, and amidst a succession of many persecut
tions, the churches of Christ were planted in al-
most every district of the Roman empire ; and
even beyond the limits of the empire, both in
Africa and in Asia. It overwhelmed every ido-
latry in its progress ; establishing itself, in op-
position, both to the prejudices, and to the per-
secutions by which it was resisted.

In as far as Christianity could prove its au-
thority by its progress, the evidence was com-
plete, during the course of the first age; and
could never be either destroyed or diminished
by subsequent events.

On the other hand, it is equally plain, that
there has been no age or period, since its first
promulgation, when the gospel might not have
been carried farther than it was carried ; when

362 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 1 1«

there were not nations " who sat in darkness/5
whom " the Day-spring from on high had
never visited :" And when the means of more
extensive promulgation were not the objects
of devout exertions, or solicitude, among true
believers.

A multitude of nations, scattered over the face
of the earth, have, in every age of the Christian
church, down to the present time, been without
the knowledge of Christ. In mentioning this
fact, I do not refer to the countries which have
been deprived of the advantages of the gospel,
after having been once in possession of them ;
for this case Avill afterwards occur to us. But I
refer to the variety of tribes, who, living in bar-
barous, inhospitable, uncultivated, or idolatrous
countries, have never possessed the advantage of
the true revelation of God, beyond the tradition
of their fathers ; and who have never been en-
lightened by the doctrine of salvation by Christ.

It is an unquestionable fact, that the promul-
gation of the gospel has not yet been univer-
sal ; and that much is yet to be done, before it
can become so.

It must be equally plain, that it could not

ik-h. 11. OF THE GOSPEL. 363

have been the design of our Lord, that Chris-
tianity should be at; first universally promulga-
ted. The same power, by means of the same
kind, could have sent it, with as much cer-
tainty, to " the utmost ends of the earth," as
from Judea to Rome. It appears clearly to
have been his intention, that its promulga-
tion should be so rapid and extensive, as not
only to render its establishment secure; but, as a
public and undeniable pledge of the power of
God, which accompanied it, to go far beyond
every similar event. More than this was not
effected; and therefore we are bound to believe,
that more than this, was not designed by him.
The promulgation of Christianity to every peo-
ple, and to every corner of the world, was, in
the wisdom of God, intended to be gradual and
progressive; the work of many successive ages;
" the labour of love," among many successions
of believers.

The knowledge of the Scriptures, and even
the doctrines of Christianity, may have penetra-
ted into many countries, by means, of which no
history in our possession has preserved the me-
morials : And there are strong reasons for this

36*4 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 11*

supposition to be found, in the known usages,
and in the peculiar idolatries, of many of the hea-
then tribes. But no doubt can exist of the
general fact, that the promulgation has not yet
been universal; however incapable we are to
speculate on the difficulties, which may be sup-
posed to be involved in it ; or to fathom the
counsels of infinite wisdom, into which no hu-
man understanding penetrates.

It is not our province to understand, why the
gospel has been with-held from any nation of the
world, or why any habitation of men has been
permitted to remain, longer than another, " the
region and shadow of death ;" why, in some
countries, successive generations are without
" the knowledge of salvation ;" while " the Suri
of Righteousness arises," for ages, on the nations
around them, " with healing under his wings."
But it is not more difficult to explain these facts,
which are undeniably certain, than to shew, why
four thousand years, in the history of fallen men,
were expired, before the Son of God came down
from heaven, " to seek and to save that which
was lost;" or why the advantages of revelation
were enjoyed for so long a period in the land of

SElt. 11. OF THE GOSPEL. 365

Judea, while the inhabitants of every other coun-
try were universally debased by ignorance and
idolatry ; Why the most precious medicines re-
main unknown to many successive generations
of men ; and, after they are discovered, can be
communicated but to a small proportion of the hu-
man race, to whom they might be useful: Or, in
equal circumstances, to shew, why one man is wi-
ser, or happier, or has better talents, or more pros-
perity, than his neighbour. These facts are all
on the same level, with respect to their ultimate
cause ; and must be resolved into the unsearch-
able counsels ot'Qod. They are not subjects of
inquiry lit for our condition; and the solution of
them is certainly beyond the sphere of our du-
ties.

But, without knowing more than the facts,
we ought to find in the gradual and successive
progress of the dispensations of God, the most
interesting and forcible instruction. We ought
to learn, on the one hand, that it is no argument
against the authority of the gospel, that it has
not yet been universally promulgated; because,
down to the present period, this was not the de-
sign or intention of its Author. We ought to ob-

366 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. II,

serve, on the other hand, that the continued pro-
gress of the gospel, and its success, wherever it is
sent, according to the declared purpose of our
Lord Jesus Christ, is a continued demonstration
of its divine authority, and of the power of God
which accompanies it. We ought to perceive,
besides^ the perpetual obligation of the believers
of the gospel in every age, to become " fellow-
workers together with God," in promoting the
interests of vital Christianity, within their own
sphere, and in embracing the best opportunities
afforded them, to assist its gradual influence and
progress, or to send it to those, to whom it is not
yet promulgated.

Let us now attend to the circumstances, from,
which we affirm,

II. That the gospel must be universally pro-
mulgated, before " the end shall come."

It is the leading design of the text to make
this assertion, in order to discriminate the si<r-
nals, which are to announce " the end of the
world," from the signs, which were to go be-
fore the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem.
The universal promulgation of Christianity is re-
presented as an event, which is certainly to hap-
pen ; or as an event, to which we are tp look

-F.lt. 11. OF THE GOSPKL. 367

forward with confidence, before " the end shall
come."

The certainty of this event is laid down, botli
in the Old and in the New Testament, in plain
and definite language, from the time when the
promise was made to Abraham, that " in his seed
all the families of the earth shall be blessed*,"
to the period, when the canon of Scripture was
closed, by the last revelation given by our Lord
to his servant John, when he addressed him in
these striking and solemn words: "I am Alpha and
Omega, the first and the last: — Write the things
which thou hast seen, and the things which are,
and the things which shall be hereafter ■)•." Our
Lord sends forth his disciples at first, " to teach
all nations, baptizing* them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost J ;"
and this commission has the same authority,
among the believers of succeeding ages, which it
had among the twelve apostles, till " the end
shall come*" The gospel is constantly in its
progress to the nations, which it has not reach-
ed; and something lias been done, in every age,

•pen. xxii. 18. f Roy. i. 11. 10.

t Mattb. xxviii. 19.

36$ UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. II.

to promote or to extend its promulgation. The
miraculous works, to which much of its first suc-
cess is to be attributed, are no longer promised,
or to be expected. But the ordinary operation
of second causes, sanctified by the Spirit of Christ,
is destined to be as effectual in promoting the
same ends, in the order, and at the times, M ap-
pointed by the Father." The progress of know-
ledge, of arts, of commerce, and of general in-
tercourse, contributes, with more and less suc-
cess, and with more and less advantage, to carry
the knowledge of Christianity from age to age;
to plant it where it was not before ; or to pave
the way, in the course of Providence, for its fi-
nal triumphs over every idolatry. The passions
and the ambition of the world are made the in-
struments to accomplish the purpose of God.
That which men have meditated for the purpo-
ses of rapacity, or to gratify the worst of world-
ly passions, he not seldom converts into the
means of diffusing, to " the nations which sat in
darkness," " the light which enlightens the Gen-
tiles," and " the salvation," which is destined for
" the ends of the earth."

Even in those cases, in, which the gospel has

SER. 11. OF THE GOSPEL. 36*9

reached the heathen nations, unhappily incorpo-
rated with the corruptions which have disfigur-
ed or perverted it, though its progress is retard-
ed by this unhallowed mixture, it is not lost.
Though those who embrace it, under such dis-
advantages, want much, both of the means and
of the information, requisite to shew them " the
way of God perfectly," that portion of " the
good seed" which is sown among them, not*
withstanding " the tares" which are intermixed
with it, " brings forth its fruit in its season."
It keeps its hold of the soil where it is first scat-
tered, till better instruments of culture are provide
ed, or till a clearer sun arises; and " the Sons
of God are gathered," though " the light" which
directs them M shineth," for a time, " in a dark
place*."

By the discovery of unknown countries, and
the extension of commerce and of the arts to the
most remote, the way is gradually opened for
the promised universality of the Christian doc-
trine; and those are made to contribute to it
effectually, who have it least in their minds to
become the instruments of its progress. God

* 2 Peter i. 19.
A a

370 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 1 1.

stirs up men of different views and characters,
and men possessing all the variety of talents and
ehdowments, to assist the progress of his de-
signs, or to pave the way for their final accom-
plishment. The most promising appearances
are often unsuccessful. But " that which is sown
in weakness, is also sometimes raised in power;"
and " that which is done in a corner, is at last
proclaimed on the house tops." We are not qua-
lified beforehand to form an estimate of the means
employed, or of the effects which they are ulti-
mately to produce. The weakest are sometimes
the most successful instruments; and the means,
which are apparently best suited to the end, are
often found by trial to have been least adapted
to it. But the progress of Christianity to its
universal promulgation is notwithstanding stea-
dily carried on, in the course of Providence;
and, however imperceptible it may be at any
one moment of time, it is both visible and dis-
tinctly marked, from one period to another.
If it sometimes seems to be lost in the blindness,
the sensuality, or the perverseness of the world,
the course of events as often demonstrates, that
the barriers which have been permitted for a

SER. 11. OF THE GOSPEL. 371

time to be raised against it, are the instruments
which the wisdom of God had destined " to
revive his work," or to send " the great salva-
tion" of " the latter days," farther than ever
among the nations.

The gospel loses its hold of a degenerate, un-
believing, and unprincipled people, who have
fallen from the hope of their fathers. But the
strength of the kingdom of God is not lost, by
their perversion or impenitence. Christianity
becomes the glory and salvation of another peo-
ple; " rising as the day-spring from on high, to
guide their feet into the way of peace;" or as
" a cloud ascending like a man's hand from the
sea," which gathers and spreads, till it covers
the face of the distant lands. It accomplishes
the purpose for which it is sent to one people,
and collects from all their tribes the children of
God. It is then "sent far from them anion?
the Gentiles;" and thus the universal promul-
gation predicted, is constantly advancing, though
not by the rules which the wisdom of men would
prescribe, according to the original intention of
God, " which he purposed in Christ Jesus, before
the world began."

A a 2

372 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 1 1.

Without being more minute, with regard to
the means or the instruments employed, I think
the circumstances which I have mentioned suffi-
cient to explain the general doctrine, that " the
gospel of the kingdom of God," or the spiritual
dominion of Christ, is in its constant progress
through the world ; appearing in very different
aspects where it has once been established ; but
gradually extending itself from one people to a-
nother; and constantly in its progress, till, "in
the fulness of time," its universality shall be
completely attained.

We are incompetent judges of the success
which attends it at any one period ; and much
more, of the permanent effects to be expected,
either from the means employed, or from the
first appearances in any country. But all the
experience of the past ages, as well as the ob-
servation of our own times, accords with our
faith in the ultimate universality of the kingdom
of Christ.

Besides the gradual progress of the gospel
from one nation to another, by means of which
we believe that it will at last reach every district
of the world, there is another idea of its univer-

SEIt. 11. OF THE GOSPEL. 373

sal establishment, before "the end shall come," of
which strong presumptions arise, from the lan-
guage of the prophetical scriptures. From them
Mre are led to conclude, that it will not only be
ultimately promulgated in every corner of the ha-
bitable world, and in one age or another to every
tribe of human beings; but that a period will at
last come, when theprofession of Christianity shall
literally become universal on the earth; when it
shall be found in every nation of the world at the
same time, and among every kindred of men;
when Jews and Gentiles shall be equally united
in professing the faith of the gospel ; when
" there shall be but one fold and one Shepherd;"
and when every false religion, and every idola-
try, shall be overwhelmed, or extirpated by
the kingdom of Christ. " There was given him
(the Messiah) says the prophet Daniel, dominion
and glory and a kingdom, that all people and
nations, and languages, should serve him ; his
dominion is an everlasting dominion, which
shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which
shall not be destroyed * ;" but which shall be-

• Daniel vii, 14.

374 Universal promulgation ser. 11.

come the last condition of the habitable world. — ■-
" The God of Heaven shall set up a kingdom
which shall never be destroyed ; and the king-
dom shall not be left to other people; but it
shall break in pieces and consume all the other
kingdoms; and it shall stand for ever*." — >
" And the kingdom and dominion, and the
greatness of the kingdom, under the whole
Heaven, shall be given to the people of the
saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom ; and all dominions shall
serve and obey him f."

Our Lord's assertion, in the text, is in precise
correspondence with these antient predictions,
and is a simple and impressive explanation of
them. il This gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world, for a witness to all
nations, and then" (as if Christianity among
the nations completed the designs of Provi-
dence on the earth) " shall the end come."

In whatever sense this language of the pro-
phesies is to be interpreted, whether as relating

* Daniel ii. 44. \ Daniel vii. 27".

■I'M. II. OF THE GOSPEL. 375

to the successive diffusion of the Christian doc-
trine over every district of the world, or to the
profession of the faith of the gospel by every
nation of men at the same time, there can be no
doubt that it was the intention of the prophets
to affirm, that in one or other of these views of
the subject, or in both of them united, " the
gospel of the kingdom" of Christ will become
universal on the earth, before the dissolution of
the world approaches.

The views of the subject, which I have now
stated, naturally suggested by the text, serve to
explain the conduct of Providence, with regard
to the progress of Christianity from age to age,
and the limited success which, in different ages
and countries, has hitherto attended it; while
they ought to teach us to look forward, with
faith and confidence, to the certainty of its final
and universal promulgation.

There are other circumstances, of great im-
portance in the history of the gospel, to which
the text also directs us. Its influence on the
condition of individuals, and on the state of
the world, from its first publication to the pre-

376 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION, &C. SER. 11.

sent time, opens to us a wide field of instruction.
I shall turn your thoughts to this branch of the
subject, in another discourse, though it is far too
extensive to be minutely illustrated.

SERMON XII.

ON

THE UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION OP
CHRISTIANITY.

MATTHEW Xxiv. 14-

" And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preach-
ed in all the world, for a witness to all nations,
and then shall the end come'

J. he history of Christianity comprehends a
most important branch of the conduct of Provi*
dence to the human race : And the different
views of it which this text suggests to us, serve
equally to establish the truth of the gospel, and
to illustrate its practical effects among mankind.

The points which I proposed to consider, in
discoursing on this text, are these following:

1. That Christianity was not designed to be

378 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 22.

at once universal ; and that its universal promul-
gation was intended to be the work of ages.

2. That the gospel must " be preached in all
the world," before the end shall come."

3. That, whatever degree of success or of ne-
glect may attend it, the gospel is designed to
serve among all nations, as a " witness," or as
a testimony, " from God to men." And,

4. That, after the gospel shall be effectually
promulgated to every nation under Heaven,
" then shall the end come," or, the final disso-
lution of the world.

The first and second of these propositions
have been illustrated in a former discourse:
And I am now to consider, what the text af-
firms,

III. That the gospel " is preached to all na-
tions, for a witness," or for a testimony, from
God to men.

The meaning of the assertion is obviously
this, That, whether the gospel is believed or is
rejected, the circumstances, which attend its
progress, are in every country permanent mo-
numents, both of the importance and of the au-
thority of its doctrine.

SER. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. 379

Christianity is, in all the nations to whom it
is sent, u a witness," or a demonstration, of the
facts which are attested by its progress, and of
the effects which are the result of its influence.
Its history, fully understood, presents, in a va-
riety of aspects, to the believers of successive ge-
nerations, the evidence, as well as the essential
characters, of the faith they have embraced ; its
continued triumphs, both over the wisdom and
the depravity of the world ; the successive pled-
ges which one age transmits to another, that the
kingdom of Christ is established, and is in its
progress through the earth, and that M the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it;" as well as
the practical demonstrations of the wisdom of
God, displayed in the means, adapted to diffe-
rent times, by which the Sons of God are ga-
thered from every land.

I have already referred to the circumstances,
which distinguished the first promulgation of
Christianity. Within forty years after the death
of Christ, it was received by a great proportion -
of Jews and Gentiles, in opposition to all their
prejudices as depraved men, as well as to every
national and religious prejudice. It had no as-

380 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12.

sistance from the governments, or from the phi-
losophy, of the world ; but subjected those who
ernbraced it to every degree of scorn and perse-
cution. The means of its promulgation were
not, in their own nature, adapted to the ends for
which they were employed: on the contrary,
they appear to have been chosen, for this precise
reason, that, possessing no natural fitness for se-
curing the success to which they were subser-
vient, it might be impossible to ascribe the pro-
gress of the gospel to its visible means or instru-
ments, or to any other causes than the energy
of truth and the power of God #.

It will not be easy to shew, that real Chris-
tianity has ever been effectually promoted, by
means dissimilar to those which were at first
employed. After the first age, its progress cer-
tainly assumed a new aspect. It had no longer
the advantage of the repetition of the miracles,
which were wrought by the apostles and their
disciples; and, after the lapse of three hundred
years, it received the countenance of the civil
governments.

* See Dr Campbell's Sermon on 1 Cor. i. 25.

bl£R. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. S81

On the other hand, it cannot be denied, that,
since that time, means have been often employ-
ed to assist its progress, which have little affini-
ty witli the instruments which were originally
selected. The bigotry and ambition of men
have attempted to spread Christianity, by means
to which it has no relation ; sometimes by de-
ceit and imposture, and sometimes even by force
of arms. But every intelligent man must be
conscious, that no visible or permanent suc-
cess has ever been the result of means so foreign
to the design of the gospel ; and that even the
protection of the civil authorities has assisted its
progress, only by the facility which it has created,
of communicating with every description of the
people, and by means of the order and tranquil-
lity, in which the Christian institutions have
been permitted to operate.

The enemies of Christianity are in all ages
the same; the ambition, the sensuality, the vi-
ces, and the superstitions of the world ; and its
real success in any age, in opposition to them,
is only to be ascribed to the same means, by
which it was originally promulgated; to the
miracles done at first in the name of the Lord :

382 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION- SER. 12,

to " the foolishness of preaching, by which it
has pleased God to save them that believe ;" to
the visible accomplishment of the ancient pro-
phecies, in the history of the gospel; to the
simple modes of instruction, of which Christ and
his apostles gave the example, or the pattern ;
and to the influence of the Spirit of Christ on the
minds of men.

The continued efficacy of these means, if they
are effectual, is, " like the spirit of prophecy,**
" the testimony of Jesus ;" a witness in every
age, both to believers and to those who do not
believe, " that God hath made him both Lord
and Christ."

Every fact which attests the progress of Chris-'
tianity in the world, by means, in their own na-
ture so little adapted to the end, as those which
Christ has blessed, and which bear so little ana-
logy to the instruments by which any other
faith has ever been supported, is a practical de-
monstration of its original authority. It is " a
witness," or a decisive proof, " to all nations,"
of the soundness of the counsel which Gama-
liel gave at first to the Jews, and of the result
of the experience, by which Gamaliel affirmed

*EK. IC. OF THE GOSPEL. 383

that Christianity ought to be fairly tried. " If
this work were of men, it would long since have
come to nothing," carried on by no other in-
struments than those which it employs; and, as
far as experience can ascertain its authority, we
have also a right to conclude, that "men cannot
overthrow it," and that, wherever they have made
the attempt, " they have been found even to
fight against God *."

Success is certainty, by itself, no decisive proof
of the authority of any doctrine; for falsehood
and imposture have often been successful in the
history of the world. But success by external
means, of which we know both the influence and
the extent, and which bear no proportion what-
ever to the effects produced, may not only be
safely, but is of necessity referred to a superior
agency. If " the weapons of our warfare are
not carnal but spiritual," and are notwithstand-
ing effectual, against both the force and the ma-
lignity of " the rulers of the darkness of this
world," we have certainly the best reasons to
conclude, that " they are mighty through God ;"

* Acts v. 38. 39.

384 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12.

and that, down to the present period, Christia-
nity is proved to be " the work" of heaven.

The effects which the gospel has produced
on the general condition of mankind, in every
country in which it has been planted, forms no
inconsiderable part of its testimony <c to all na-
tions." This is a view of the subject, of which
every well-informed man ought to be a compe*
tent judge.

Without taking into our consideration the in-
fluence of Christianity on those who sincerely
receive it, we cannot but perceive the extensive
effects which, either by their means, or by means
of its general spirit and tendency, it has univer-
sally produced on the condition of those who do
not believe; on their characters, their usages, their
manners, and their opinions.

It is impossible not to admit the importance of
the light and information which Christianity has
brought into the world, to which we are chiefly
indebted, not only for our release from the most
pernicious superstitions, but for our best sources
of knowledge, with regard to the true interests
and obligations of men. Every man, who has
any knowledge of the history of the world.

SER. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. 385

must perceive the diffusion of principles and of
morals among the great mass of the people,
which was never attempted with any general
effect before the promulgation of the gospel :
The influence of the gospel, to attach infamy to
the gross vices, which were almost universal be-
fore the Christian aera: The liberal views and
characters, with regard to one another, which
the western nations have derived from the pub*
lie profession of the same faith, which, before
the propagation of Christianity, were complete-
ly unknown; while the world was yet divided
betwixt Jews, or Greeks, or Romans, and the
barbarous people of every other tribe : And fi*
nally, the influence of Christianity, well or ill
understood, to enlarge the sphere of active men,
and to open the communication of the remotest
nations, so as to create sources of wealth and
of general prosperity, unknown to the former
ages.

These facts it is impossible to deny : and can-
did men, though they are not believers, will find
it difficult indeed, to explain them by causes,
with which the influence of Christianity is no(
inseparably hi ter woven.

rs b

386 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION- SER. \%

It is obvious that the public laws and institu-
tions, which are derived from the authority or
from the spirit of the gospel, have an effect on
the conditions of men and on their general cha-
racter, quite independent of personal religion.
It is equally certain, that the doctrines of Chris-
tianity have an influence in regulating the opi-
nions, in restraining the vices, and in softening
the manners of mankind, not only when they
do not produce such habitual convictions as can
render men " wise unto salvation," but even
when, as the doctrines of religion, they are deli-
berately discredited and rejected. There is a
character for intellectual acquisitions, for li-
beral science, for commercial enterprise, for ge-
neral urbanity, and for the virtues of domes-
tic life, in which none of the nations of
antiquity, and not one description of Maho-
metans or of modern idolaters, can bear to be
compared with the inhabitants of Christen-
dom. Individuals of every age and country
have surmounted every national disadvantage.
But the general spirit of nations is not to be
mistaken. Without forgetting either the arts
or the philosophy of Greece and Rome, we

3EK. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. 387

must perceive, that there is an extent of general
information, a strength of understanding and of
character, united to an order and a refinement in
private manners, which notwithstanding all the
depravity of modern times, form the peculiar
distinction of the countries in which Christianity-
is planted. Men, who take no serious interest
in the ultimate design of the gospel as the doc-
trine of eternal life, are imperceptibly partakers
of the advantages, which its progress has uni-
versally spread through the world.

It is not pretended that the effects of the gos*
pel on general manners are either in the same
degree, or of the same extent, in every country
in which Christianity is established. On the
contrary, its influence is very different, accord-
ing to the circumstances which have attended
its progress. But it is affirmed with confi-
dence, that in every country in which Chris-
tianity is permanently established, its peculiar
effects are so visibly distinguished in the usages
and in the general character of the people, as
to raise them far above every nation of men,
civilized or barbarous, in which either the delu-

J3 b£

388 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12.

sions of Mahomed, or any forms of Pagan su-
perstition prevail. If there are any exceptions
to this fact, they can only be found in situations,
in which, with the name of Christians, nations
have preserved all their original ignorance or
superstitions*.

The influence of the spirit of Christianity on
the state of every district of the world in which
it is planted, is thus its perpetual P witness" or
testimony " to all nations." It ameliorates both
the conditions and the characters of men, even
when it does not reach their consciences : And
though it is published " for salvation to the ends
of the earth," it demonstrates its energy even to
those " who count themselves unworthy of
everlasting life."

On this part of the subject I ought to add,
that independent of the effects produced by the
spirit of the gospel, the manners of those who
sincerely embrace Christianity must have great
influence on the situations of mankind.

* See Dr White's Sermons at the Bampton-Lecture, Serm.
ix. in which this subject is discussed with equal minuteness
and ability*

SER. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. 38°.

The sincere believers of Christianity are in
every country mixed with the general mass of
the people. Amidst all the variety of their ca-
pacities and activity, the influence of their per-
sonal characters is imperceptibly diffused among
those with whom they live and act, and, more
remotely, even among those, with whom they
have never been associated, to whom the effects
of their conduct can extend. The personal
virtues and the good examples of " a multitude
which no man can number," scattered among
all the tribes of men who profess Christianity,
must be admitted to have a perpetual tendency
to ameliorate the condition of the world, to
check the progress of corruption, to restrain the
wickedness of the wicked, to prevent many ef-
fects of the vices which prevail, and, t( like the
salt of the earth," to preserve to successive gene-
rations that which is good or useful in their own
times. The good works of a single man, en-
lightened by knowledge, and inspired by an ha-
bitual zeal for the glory of God and the happi-
ness of his fellow-creatures, diffuse their influ-
ence widely around him during his own life;
and, by means of those whom he has been the
instrument of training, or assisting, or reclaim*

390 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12.

ing, extend their effects to those who come after
him, long after he " has been gathered to his
fathers;" and in many instances, even to remote
countries, and to distant ages.

If we believe this to be a fact, we must
have enlarged conceptions indeed, of the effects
produced by the real believers of the gospel oil
the general state of the world, on the order and
happiness of human life, and even on the cha-
racters and satisfactions of men " who do not
obey the gospel of God ;" and who do not per-
ceive the advantages, for which they are them-
selves indebted to Christianity.

The gospel " is preached" and believed " for
a witness to all nations ;" and, by means of those
who sincerely embrace it, its testimony is. uni-
versally the same in every district of the earth,
to wit, that " they are the salt of the earth," that
" they are the light of the world," and that
" their light shines before men," even when men
do not " glorify their Father who is in heaven."

There is yet another view of the testimony of
the gospel. The doctrines which it promul-
gates for the renovation of the world, come
home to the consciences of individuals; and the

5EK. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. 591

impressions which they produce, or the convic-
tions of duty or of sin which they awaken, are a
permanent witness and memorial, both of their
importance and of their authority, among all the
nations to whom Christ is preached.

The doctrines of Christ are the most interest-
ing truths, to which the understanding of man
can be applied. We learn from him the laws
and history of Providence, with a degree of
energy and precision, with which our unassist-
ed faculties would not enable us to discern them
on the face of external nature; while the so-
lemn truths, to which the gospel bears its pecu-
liar testimony, involve the greatest interests of
the human race : All, which it imports a sinful
being to know, believe, or do; all, which con-
cerns our redemption from misery and sin, and
our everlasting welfare ; all, which can either
comfort us in our fallen state, or instruct us con-
cerning our hope in God, or direct us with re-
gard to our present duties, or our peculiar temp-
tations, or establish our1 faith in " the mercy
of God to pardon," or, " in his grace to help
us."

392 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12.

The testimony of the gospel must be different,
according to the effects which it produces on
different men.

It is an awful " witness for the truth of
God," to those who harden their hearts against
it; a testimony written in blood, that " God
sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world,*'
and that they would neither hear nor obey him ;
" a witness" against them, through time and
eternity, that mercy came down from heaven,
and that they hardened themselves the more ;
that, " according to the determinate purpose"
and grace of God, the Son of God shed his blood
for the redemption of the world, and that " they
have counted the blood of the covenant an un-
holy thing;" that with all the advantage of the
light of the gospel, and of its impressive warn-
ings and admonitions ; with a full consciouness
of the grace which it promulgates to a sinful
world, and of the hope by which it would per-
suade them, they persist in impenitence and un-
belief, while " there remaineth no more sacri-
fice for sin ;" that they have many strong in-
ternal convictions of the authority of the gospel,
and of their personal danger in resisting it, and

SER. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. 393-

yet allow themselves to persevere deliberately in
vice, " treasuring up to themselves wrath against
the day of wrath."

The gospel is an awful " witness to the na-
tions," when these are the truths to which it
affixes the seal. Its testimony in every age and
country is the same, concerning every hardened
and impenitent unbeliever. It warns him of his
danger, but it calls him to repentance. It tells
him of the mercy of God through the blood of
atonement, and of " the sanctilication of the
Holy Ghost ;" and it beseeches him to the end,
to repent and to believe, that " he may not pe-
rish." But it must be a decisive " witness" a-
gainst him before God and men, if he shall live
and die in impenitence.

How dreadful is this testimony of the gospel,
as it relates to the present and to the last condi-
tion of individuals ! How awful, as it represents
the determined infatuation of the multitude of
sinners ! " God set forth his Son to be the propi-
tiation through faith in his blood," that he might
raise us from the ruins of the fall, and save us
from the perdition of sin and death; and
" they have trodden under foot the Son of God,

394* UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12.

and do despite unto the Spirit of Grace." —
" Christ suffered, the just for the unjust, to bring
us to God ;" to rouse us " to fly from the wrath
to come," and to bring home to our conviction
the bitterness and the guilt of sin; " and this
is the condemnation," written against the unbe-
lievers of every nation, as if there were no other
source of condemnation besides, " that light is
come into the world, and that they have loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds
are evil *."

But the testimony of the gospel, in its most
awful forms, is not unaccompanied with the
most earnest and affectionate admonitions; and
its admonitions are expressed in such words as
these: M Repent and be converted, that your
sins may be blotted out, when the times of re-
freshing come forth from the presence of the
Lord-}"." " Behold the Lamb of God, who ta-
keth away the sin of the world J." " God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth on him might not

* St John iii. ]Q. f Acts iii. 1Q.

X St John i. 20.

SEK. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. 3Q5

perish, but might have everlasting life*." " Take
his yoke upon you, and learn of him ; for lie is
meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest
unto your souls f." " If any of you lack wis-
dom, let him ask of God, who giveth unto all
men liberally, and upbraided] not ; and it shall
be given him J. " " Now is the accepted time ;
behold now is the day of salvation §."

The testimony of Christianity is rendered com-
plete, by the effects which it produces on the con-
dition of the individuals who sincerely embrace
it.

By whomsoever the gospel is despised, they
who believe and obey it " have the witness in
themselves," that " it is spirit and life." A good
man, who sincerely applies Christianity to its
practical ends, has a proof within himself, both of
its energy and of its authority, of which nothing
can deprive him. It enlightens his mind ; it
subdues his passions; it settles the tumult of con-
trary affections, and fixes his heart where his
permanent interests are; it purifies and ennobles

* St John iii. 16. f Matth. xi. 29.

J James i. 5. § 2 Cor. vi. 2.

396 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12.

the motives of his conduct ; it effectually regu-
lates and determines his pursuits ; it preserves
him amidst the strongest temptations, for it raises
him above them ; it teaches him how to enjoy
the comforts of this life, and not only how to
bear, but how to receive advantages from its
afflictions; it forms his character among man-
kind, while it combines his interests with the
happiness of the Sons of God. Men in the
lowest departments of human life, without liter-
ature, and without either wealth or distinction
in this world, have the full consciousness of these
practical effects of the gospel, in common with
the wisest of those who embrace it. To every
man who is indeed a Christian, the energy, and
therefore the authority, of Christianity, is proved,
by his personal experience of its influence on his
happiness and on his character, " through the
sanctification of the Spirit, and the belief of the
truth." He is fully persuaded, by what he
knows and feels, that (' the kingdom of God is
not in word, but in power ;" that it is " righte-
ousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost ;*"
" holiness to the Lord," and fidelity to men ;

SER. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. 397

" the wisdom and the power of God unto salva-
tion to every one who believeth."

The faith which governs a man's life, by
means of principles from which he derives his
best consolations, and by expectations which en-
able him to surmount both the fears and the real
calamities of this world, is not to be shaken by
the sophistry of scepticism, and much less by
the delusions of practical infidelity. Vital Chris-
tianity, which, by means of active holiness, "a-
dorns the doctrine of God our Saviour in all
things," has the proof, or " the witness'' in it-
self, among all nations. " I know," said an a-
postle, " in whom I have believed, and I am
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I
have committed to him * :" " I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me ; and the life which I now live in
the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me f." " This
gospel of the kingdom," will a true believer say,
" is preached in all the world for a witness ;"
and I have the evidence within my own mind,

* 2 Tim. i. 12. f Galat. ii. ?0-

398 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. \%

that it is not preached in vain. All that to which
it bears testimony among the nations is verified
to my conviction, and confirmed by my perso-
nal experience. I am conscious of its present
efficacy; and I look with desire, and with a full
persuasion, to its final result in the kingdom of
God. But my first concern, in the mean time,
is this, that I may be honoured to contribute
something to " the testimony of the Lord" in
the world ; or that I may be enabled to do some-
thing which may serve as an example " to them,
who shall hereafter believe on him to life evei>
lasting," or which shall assist the progress, or
which shall prove the efficacy, of those unalter-
able truths, in which the present and eternal in*
terests of men are involved; to wit, that *' Christ
is mighty to save * ;" that u there is no salva-
tion in any other f;" that "without holiness no
man shall see the Lord J;" that our " heavenly
Father will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
him§;" and that " the peace of God passeth all

* Isaiah lxiii. I. f Acts iv. 12.

% Heb. xii. 14. § Luke xi. 13.

SKR. 1'2. OF THE GOSPEL. 3.99

understanding, and keeps the heart and mind
through Christ Jesus #."

When we take this view of the iniluencc of
Christianity on the minds of those who sincerc-
ly embrace it; and consider it in connexion with
the testimony, which it impresses on the con-
sciences even of those who reject its authority ;
we must have a strong conviction both of the
reality and of the extent of the effects, produced
by the promulgation of the gospel, in every coun-
try to which it is sent.

Every where it attains its ends. " The chil-
dren of God are gathered" from all the nations,
and have the proof within themselves, that they
are born from on high j " not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God I; " not of corruptible seed, but of in-
corruptible, by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth for ever J."

On the other hand, when the gospel fails in
persuading men, or in converting them, besides
its external effects in restraining their depravity,

• Philip, iv. 7. f St John i. 13.

' I IVter i. Q3.

400 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. IS.

and in ameliorating their conditions, it is a mo-
nument of the truth and faithfulness of God, to
render them without excuse, who have obsti-
nately hardened themselves against its authority.
The men of Tyre and Sidon, of Sodom and
Gomorrha, "shall rise at last in judgment" against
the unbelievers of Judea : And ?.' the Gentiles,
who have not the law" or the gospel, but " who
do by nature the things contained in the law,"
" shall rise in judgment" against every man to
whom the gospel has been preached in vain.
His advantages will only serve to aggravate his
final condemnation ; while the merciful Redeem-
er of the world will recognise the publican of
Judea, and the heathen man among the Gentiles,
" on whose heart the work of God's law was
written," as men c< not far from the kingdom of
heaven."

There is a circumstance intimately connected
with the universality of the gospel, and manifest-
ly written on its history, which ought not to be
omitted, in illustrating the doctrine of this text.

We know that, in a country in which the gos-
pel was once planted successfully, and in which
many believers have for a time rejoiced in it,

SER. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. 401

by the perversion or depravity of their succes-
sors, it may at first be disfigured, and at last be
lost. In the righteous judgment of God, it may
be sent from them to the inhabitants of another
country. Among these, too, it may at last be
corrupted by similar means, till they also have
lost its advantages, by the visitation of God.

Of these facts, the primitive churches of Ju-
dea, and the seven churches of Asia, are by no
means singular examples. The history of Chris-
tianity presents us with a multitude of facts of
the same kind ; and the striking, though gradual,
declension of the most flourishing Christian
churches, both in respect of zeal and of morals,
is a perpetual confirmation of them.

We are not permitted to unravel the myste-
ries of Providence ; nor is it necessary that we
should be able to account for events, which we
know to be subservient to the ends of God's
universal government. But it is of real import-
ance to us, that we should not be perverted by
means of false conclusions, deduced from facts
which are established by experience.

Does Christianity lose its aim, in the countries
from which it is taken away? It collects in its

Cc

402 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12.

progress " the children of God." It " seeks and
finds them," wherever they dwell. They are
widely scattered; but the doctrine of salva-
tion reaches every one of them in his place.
When unbelievers harden their hearts, and be-
come more and more obstinate in " rejecting the
counsel of God;" when "the measure of their
iniquity is full," and "the love of many (among
those who profess to believe) waxeth cold;"
the gospel ceases at length to strive with them,
and its light and glory arise on another land.

But, even in this case, Christianity was not
promulgated in vain. " As many as were or-
dained to eternal life believed # ;" and their num-
ber far exceeds our most sanguine expectations ;
while the effects of their faith are not lost among
their children, even after they no longer enjoy
the advantages of their fathers.

The hardened suffer the effects of their impe-
nitence and perversion. But " the gospel has free
course and is glorified;" and every where believers
are found to follow its progress. The universa-

? Acts xiii. 48.

SER. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. 405

lity of its promulgation is not affected, because
it is taken away from a degenerate and perverted
people. It was sent to them ; and it accom-
plishes among them the end for which it is
published, in as far as it is a testimony for the
truth of God, both to the believers, and to those
who will not believe.

Finally, " the gospel of the kingdom of God"
is destined for every land, " for a witness to all
nations ;" though " it is not for us to know the
times or the seasons, which the Father hath put
in his own power*." The great fact we know
with certainty ; that the testimony of the gospel
will beat last complete; that whatever the se-
ries or the progress of its promulgation is,
" Christ is set for salvation to the ends of the
earth ;" that " this gospel must be preached in
all the world;" for judgment to those who will
not receive it, but for " life and peace" to those
who believe, " of every kindred and people and
nation and language."

I have still to consider,

IV. That after the gospel shall have been ef-

* Acts i. 7.
c c 2

404 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12.

fectually promulgated to every nation under
heaven, "then shall the end come;" or, "the
final dissolution of the world."

I have remarked, in the preceding discourse,
that though our Lord is admonishing his disci-
ples, in the chapter from which this text is taken,
of the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, he
intermixes with this subject intimations with re-
gard to the final dissolution of the world, which
were designed for every age of Christianity.
Such a combination of different subjects, to
which similar descriptions are applied, is by no
means unusual in the prophetical Scriptures.

I have illustrated the language of the text, as
relating exclusively, and in its literal sense, to
" the end of the world." I consider this as the just
interpretation of every part of the language of this
chapter, which cannot, in its full meaning, be
applied to the final subversion of the Jewish state,
or to the destruction of Jerusalem. It is scarcely
conceivable that any such event, or any event
of less magnitude than the dissolution of the
world, can be connected with the following de-
scription: " The sun shall be darkened, and the
moon shall not give her light. The stars shall

SER. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. 405

fall from heaven, and the powers of the hea-
vens shall be shaken : And then shall appear the
sign of the Son of Man in heaven ; and then
shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they
shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds
of heaven, with power and great glory : And
he shall send his angels with a great sound of a
trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect,
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to
the other *." This description follows a very stri-
king view, which our Lord had given of the
circumstances which were to accompany the de-
struction of the Jewish state; and it is intro-
duced by the expression " immediately after the
tribulation of those days," which is manifestly
designed to mark the distinction between the ca-
lamities of the Jews, and the last signals of the
dissolution of the world. Whatever precise
signification we affix to the words translated
11 immediately after," they ascertain this fact,
that the description which they are employed
to introduce, does not relate to the events
which are before represented, and which evi-

• Matth. xxiv. 29— 3 J.

406 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12.

dently refer to the destruction of Jerusalem :
And though, in their natural signification, they
convey the idea of future events, at no great dis-
tance, the same phraseology is very commonly
applied in the New Testament to " the end of
the world," to represent not only the certainty
of this awful event, but the importance of im-
mediate preparation for " the judgment of the
great clay," which, at the remotest period of
time, will find every individual man in the
same condition, in which his spirit leaves its
mortal tabernacle. " The night is far spent,"
says the apostle Paul to the Romans, " the
day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the
works of darkness, and let us put on the armour
of light*:" And to the Philippians, " Let your
moderation be known unto all men; the Lord
is at handf." The apostle Peter expresses the
same thing still more precisely : " The end of
all things is at hand : Be ye therefore sober, and
watch unto prayer J." The same phraseolo-
gy is used in all these examples, which our Lord
employs to represent " the end of the world" as

* Rom. xiii. 12. f Philip* iv# 5.

$ 1 Peter iv. 7.

SHU. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. 407

" immediately after" the tribulation produced by
the destruction of Jerusalem.

It is obvious besides, that our Lord's asser-
tion, that " of the day and hour (of which he
spake) knoweth no man, no not the angels of
heaven, (and as he expresses it in the parallel
text of the gospel of Mark, neither the Son) but
the Father only *■," can only be applied to the
time fixed for " the end of the world." It is,
at least, much more natural to suppose, that
this was really a subject of which he was then
discoursing, than that such an assertion was in-
troduced, merely on account of its connexion
with a remote allusion, employed to represent
the certainty of the destruction of Jerusalem f :
or that it was, in any sense, intended to apply to
this event, which our Lord had explicitly affirm-

♦ Matth. xxiv. 36. Mark xiii. 32.
t This some commentators have affirmed; supposing our
Lord's assertion to refer to no other part of his discourse, than
to the allusion immediately preceding it ; Matth. xxiv. 05.
" Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not
pass away*"

408 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12.

ed, was to happen, before the extinction of " the
generation of men then alive *."

That " the end of the world" was really his
subject, as well as the calamities of the Jews, is
moreover clearly established, by the striking ad-
monitions found in the conclusion of this chap-
ter, which are far more applicable to our prepa-
ration for the last coming of the Lord from hea-
ven, than to any other event; and which are
manifestly and strictly connected with the sub-
ject of the following chapter, which, all must ad-
mit, relates entirely to the transactions of the last
day, and to the general judgment f.

Adopting this interpretation J, I suppose the

* Matth. xxiv. 34.

f Matth. xxiv. 42 — 51. Matth. xxv.

X Bishop Butler, in his sermon on this text, which he un-
derstands in the same sense in which the author has taken it,
docs not even make the supposition that another interpretation
could be given. Calvin and many other expositors have
adopted the same interpretation.

Other commentators have no doubt applied the text exclu-
sively to the destruction of Jerusalem, though (as the author
thinks) without sufficient authority.

SER. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. 400

universal promulgation of Christianity to be gi-
ven us, as one of the latest signals to be expected
of the final dissolution of the world.

This part of the subject does not admit of mi-
nute illustrations. We rely on the assertion of
the gospel with regard to " the end of the
world," without being ignorant, that unbelievers,
in every age of the church of Christ, are willing
to adopt the language, ascribed by the apostle
Peter to the men of the first age; " saying,
where is the promise of his coming? for since
the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as
they were*." We believe that " the end will
certainly come," at the time " appointed by the
Father;" and that the events, which are to go
before it, will happen in succession, at the pe-
riods, and in the order, represented to us in the
prophetical Scriptures. We know, too, that
there will be unbelievers in the last days, whose
obstinacy will not be overcome, till the general
conflagration shall overwhelm them.

The universal promulgation of the gospel is

* 2 Peter iii. 4.

410 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12.

to be regarded as the signal to prepare for the
dissolution of the world.

When the gospel shall have fully attained its
purpose; when the kingdom of Christ shall
have established its triumph over every su-
perstition and idolatry ; when the multitude of
believers shall be complete, collected from all
the tribes of Jews and Gentiles ; when all the
Scripture shall be fulfilled concerning the Mes-
siah's reign on earth, and " all his enemies
shall be put under his feet * ;" when the tes-
timony of the gospel shall have been given to
all nations, according to the true intention of
its Author; and when " the earth shall be fill-
ed with the knowledge of the Lord as the
waters cover the sea f ;" " then shall the end
come.*' " The Son of Man shall then come, in
the glory of his Father, with his angels J." "He
shall send his angels — to gather his elect from
one end of heaven to the other |j." " The dead
in Christ shall rise first §;" but " all that are in

* 1 Cor. xv. 25. f Isaiah xi. 9.

J Matth. xvi. 27. || Matth. xxiv. 31,

$ 1 Thcs. iv. 16.

I
SEIt. ]fi. OF THE GOSPEL. 411

their graves shall hear his voice*." " The dead
shall then be judged," " small and great |."
11 The ransomed of the Lord shall return and
come to Zion with songs, and With everlasting
joy upon their heads $." " The wicked shall be
turned into hell, and all the nations who forget
God."

" Then shall the heavens pass away with a
great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat ; the earth also, and the works that
are therein, shall be burnt up. Then shall all
these things be dissolved §." The dispensations
of God on earth shall then be closed for ever.
u The Son shall deliver up the kingdom to God,
even the Father, and God shall be all in allj|."

" Amen." " Hallelujah!" " For the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth^f." The redemption
of man will then be complete. " Death and
hell shall then be cast into the lake of fire**."
The everlasting song shall then begin among the

* St John v. 28. + Rev. xx. 12.

X Isaiah xxxv. 10. § 2 Peter iii. 10. 11.

|| 1 Cor. xv. 24. 28. H Rev. xix. 6.
*• Rev. xx. 14.

412 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION, &C. SER. 12.

Sons of God: " Blessing, and honour, and glory,
and power, to him who sits upon the throne,
and to the Lamb for ever and ever V

* Rev. v. 13.

SERMON XIII.

PROSPECTS OF FUTURITY.

MATTHEW XXVU 29«

" I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of
this fruit of the vine, until that day when I
drink it new with you in my Father s king-
dom.*

A his text was originally addressed by out Lord
to his disciples, on the night which immediately
preceded his death. It is expressed in metapho-
rical language, and was evidently designed to
prepare them for the prospect of an immediate
separation from him, by directing their expecta-
tions to a state of things, far more perfect than
any which they had yet experienced, for which
that event was to pave the way.

414 PROSPECTS OF SER. 13.

It might refer to the time, when the dispen-
sation of the gospel (which the New Testament
often calls " the kingdom of God") was to be
completely established. It makes a part of our
Lord's discourse to his disciples, when he insti-
tuted the holy ordinance of " the Lord's sup-
per;" and, when connected with the events
which that solemnity was designed to comme-
morate, might refer to the time subsequent to his
death, resurrection, and ascension, when his disci-
ples " were to be all filled with the Holy Ghost,"
and " to be endowed with power from on high."
On this supposition, " the kingdom of the Fa-
ther" would signify the dominion of Christ on
earth, which was to be effectually established by
the mission of the apostles, to preach the gospel
to all nations ; and the powers and gifts, with
which they were to bejnspired, would be repre-
sented by " the new wine" of the kingdom of
God.

This interpretation receives some countenance
from the parallel text in the gospel of Luke,
which is not only connected with " the Lord's
supper," but with the feast of the passover, ce-
lebrated at the same time : an institution, which
typically represented the events which " the

SBU. ]3. FUTURITY. 415

Lord's supper*' was intended to commemorate,
testifying before hand the sufferings of Christ,
and the glory which should follow :" " With
desire I have desired to eat this passover with
vou before 1 suffer : for I say unto you, I will
not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in
the kingdom of God." Our Lord then "took
the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this,
and divide it among yourselves: For I say un-
to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine
until the kingdom of God shall come*."

From the language and the arrangement of
this representation, there is at least some plausi-
bility in supposing, that the events, " to be ful-
iilled in the kingdom of God," were those which
the passover prefigured, and that " the kingdom
of God" is therefore a general expression, to
signify the effectual establishment of the domi-
nion of Christ on earth, by the dispensation of
the gospel.

This interpretation would no doubt suggest to
ns a very important assertion, announced at a
time, when it was calculated to make a strong
impression on those whom our Lord addressed ;

* Luke xxii. 1 "» — 18.

416 PROSPECTS OF SER. 1 3,

an assertion with regard to the ultimate success,
and permanent consolations of the gospel, in
which the sincere believers of Christianity will
always feel themselves to be deeply interested.
But I am persuaded that the idea, which our
Lord intended at this time to convey to his dis-
ciples, goes far beyond it.

I think that " the kingdom of my Father *,'*
" my Father's house f," " the kingdom of our
Father J," are expressions which the New Testa-
ment employs to signify, exclusively, the king-
dom of God in heaven, to be established at
the restitution of all things, " when the Son shall
have delivered the kingdom to the Father §;"
or, that state of future happiness and perfection
in the invisible world, in which the dominion of
God will be complete and universal ; and which
those, who believe and obey the gospel, will at
last enjoy together.

On that night in which the last scene of his
sufferings began, our Lord expressed the utmost
solicitude to comfort his disciples in the view of

• St Matth. xxvi. 29. f St John xiv. 2.

• $ St Matth. xiii. 43. § 1 Cor. xv. 24.

SEK. 13, FUTURITY. 417

their approaching separation from him, by con-
siderations adapted to their state of mind ; and
in particular, by holding out to them the assu-
rance that their separation from him was not to
be perpetual, and by giving them the direct
prospect of being again restored to his society.
He spake of his glorious exaltation in the ever-
lasting kingdom of the Father, and of the time
when they were to be united to him again. He
represented to them, with earnestness and affec-
tion, the happy state of being, in which they
were again to enjoy his personal presence ; and
in which their intercourse with him, more per-
fect than it had ever been, was to last through
eternal ages. " Let not your heart be troubled ;
ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my
Father's house are many mansions : If it were
not so, I would have told you ; I go to pre-
pare a place for you: And if I go and pre-
pare a place for you, I will come again, and
receive you unto myself, that where I am,
there ye may be also*." He expressed the
same idea in the pathetic intercession address^

• St Jolm xiv\ 1. 2. 3.
I) d .

r

418 PROSPECTS OF SER. 13.

ed to his Father, with which his discourses on
tin's solemn night were concluded. " I have
glorified thee on the earth : I have finished the
work which thou gavest me to do : And now,
O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self,
with the glory which I had with thee before the
world was*;" adding, what this part of his
prayer sufficiently explains, " Father, I will, that
they also whom thou hast given me, be with
me where I am, that they may behold my glory
which thou hast given me : For thou lovedst me
before the foundation of the world |." It is in
correspondence with the whole spirit and struc-
ture of these animated expressions, that I sup-
pose the text to have been intended by our Lord,
to comfort his disciples with regard to their se-
paration from him, by conveying to them, along
with the intimation of his death, a direct and
positive assurance, that they were to rejoin him
"in his Father's kingdom," and that there, their
intercourse with him would be certain and per-
petual. " I say unto you, I will not drink hence-
forth of this fruit of the vine, until that day,

• St John xvii. 4. 5. f St John xvii. 24.

SER. 13. FUTURITY. 419

when I drink it new with you in my Father's
kingdom."

If this is a just view of the text, its applica-
tion to our conditions, and the consolations
which it may suggest to us, are both obvious
and striking.

We enjoy many satisfactions together in the
present life. But the time for possessing them
is short; and no individual knows, with regard
to himself, how short it is. We are certain, that
nothing which we possess is permanent, which
cannot be referred, either by its effect or by its
result, to the world to come. And we believe,
that these is a state of being, after this life, in
which all that is good and pure will be at last
united ; in which every good man will find his
place among his kindred spirits; in which Christ
" shall be glorified in his saints ;" and in which
" God shall be all in all." If we can believe,
that our ford's address to his disciples in the
text can, in any event, be directed to ourselves,
we ought to derive from this persuasion, the
most animating and soothing impressions, of
which a good man can at any time be con-
scious,

420 PROSPECTS OF S£R. 13.

I shall, in discoursing on the text, consider it,
in the three following lights :

1. It reminds those who believe and obey the
gospel, of the confidence and persuasion, with
which they are warranted to look forward to the
everlasting " kingdom of the Father."

2. It reminds them, that though they must
soon relinquish whatever they possess in this
world, there is a time approaching, when their
best satisfactions shall be both revived and per-
fected. And,

3. It reminds them, that though the time of
their departure from this world should be near,
when they must sleep in the dust of the earth,
they are certain that their spirits will not die;
and that they shall awake " to glory and to an
endless life" in " the kingdom of the Father."

Let us consider,

I. That our Lord's declaration in this text, if
we suppose that it can be in any circumstances
directed to us, ought to remind us of the confi-
dence and persuasion, with which we are war-
ranted to look forward to the everlasting " king-
dom of the Father."

SER. 13. FUTURITY. 421

" The kingdom of the Father" conveys to us
the idea of a state of existence beyond this life,
which good men will at last enjoy together, in
which the dominion of God and of goodness
will be complete and universal ; in which pure
and faithful men will be associated with the
highest order of created beings; in which the
powers and virtues of every individual will both
attain their utmost progressive perfection, and
receive their full reward ; in which every human
faculty will be fully occupied, and applied to its
proper objects ; in which every man will serve
God in his own place, with an enlightened
mind, and a perpetual ardour ; in which every
individual will find his kindred spirits, and
dwell with them in everlasting purity and
love; in which, though their capacities may
even then be different, every man's happiness
will be complete, and every man's cup will
be full ; and in which, whatever they possess
will last for ever, or will attain a new or increas-
ing perfection, through eternal ages. This is
" the kingdom of the Father."

But there is an important fact to be added to
this representation. The Son of God will be

422 PROSPECTS OF SEU. 13.

there, " in his o\Vn glory *," and u in the glory
of his Father f," " He who liveth, and was
dead, and who is alive for evermore J," "He
who hath redeemed us to God by his blood §,"—
lie who, when he left his disciples in the world,
referred them to the day, when " they were to
be with him where he is," when " he was to
drink with them new wine in the kingdom of his
Father." He shall be there, with all who are his;
with " the multitude which no man can num-
ber," " of all nations, and kindreds, and people,
and tongues, who shall stand before the throne,
and before the Lamb^f." Their intercourse with
him shall be the tender and endearing intercourse
of loVe. He shall there apportion to every one
of them his proper office, and his full employ-
ment. He shall place every one of them among
his fellows; and shall give to every individual
his peculiar joy. He shall present them all, in
the presence of his Father, pure and happy,
" kings and priests**," and " Sons of God."

* Luke ix. 26. f Matth. xvi. 27.

% Rev. i. 18. § Rev. v. 9.

1f Rev. vii. 0. * * Rov. v. 10.

SEU. 13. FUTURITY. 423

This is the reign of Christ and of the saints,
in " the kingdom which cannot be moved*."
There nothing shall ever rise to resist the domi-
nion of God, or to awaken, among those who
shall inherit everlasting life, one painful or cheer-
less recollection.

It is delightful to mortal creatures, to be able
to look with desire " to the kingdom of the
Father." It is far more delightful, to be able to
live in the present world, under a full persua-
sion, that there is such a condition of human
beings approaching, to which we are warranted
to aspire, and which is certain as the faithfulness
of God; under a persuasion, that there is such a
perfection of mind, and such an extent of moral
and intellectual faculties, which every individual
man may at last attain ; and that there is such
a glorious society preparing among the Sons of
God, and such " a fulness of joy," which is to suc-
ceed our pilgrimage on earth, and which we are
to possess together through the ages of eternity.

The hope of this blessed state, as " the an-
chor of the soul, sure and stedfastf," is enough

• Ilcb. xii. 28i t Hcb. vi. 1Q.

424 PROSPECTS OF SER. 13*

to compensate every sorrow of the present life ;
all its infirmities and disappointments; the ut-
most injustice and malignity of the world ; the
afflictions which have most embittered our spi-
rits ; and even the melancholy experience which
convinces us, that in this world there is nothing
either permanent or sure.

It revives and invigorates the soul of man, to
look forward, with full persuasion and confi-
dence, beyond the shifting and clouded scenes
of mortality, to their final result and end in
" the kingdom of the Father :" To the pure and
permanent happiness which we are taught to
expect, as the ultimate effects of the vicissitudes
and the discipline experienced in the present
life : To the mansions of perpetual joy, " set be-
fore us" to sustain our courage, while we dwell
in tabernacles of clay: To our final association
with " the spirits of just men made perfect,"
who have already overcome the sorrows which
they experienced in the flesh, and who are now,
with " the innumerable company of angels,"
before " the presence of the Father:" To the
jast triumphs of death and sin, of which the Son
of God assures us, who was himself " made.

SEE. 13* FUTURITT. 4C5

perfect through sufferings #," and who now
says to us from heaven, that " if we be dead with
him, we shall also live with him," and that, " if
we suffer with him, we shall also reign with
him (" :" To our participation of the glory of
the great day, when " the end shall come ; when
the Son shall have delivered up the kingdom to
God even the Father, after he shall have put
down all rule, and all authority, and power J;"
when we shall derive our happiness from our
perpetual union and subjection to " the King
eternal, immortal, and invisible $;" and when
our voice shall be heard among " the hosts of
heaven," who " fall down and worship God
who sits upon the throne, saying, Amen, Alle-
lujah,-— for the Lord God omnipotent reign-
eth ||."

" If we hope for that we see not, then do
we with patience wait for it ^[." " Believing we
rejoice, with joy unspeakable and full of glo-

• Ilcb. ii. 10. t 2 Tim. ii. li. 12.

X 1 Cor. xv. 24. § 1 Tim. i. 17.

| Rev. xix. 4. 6\ % Rom. viii. 25.

426 PROSPECTS OF SER. 13.

ry *." We shall be happy indeed, when even
our sufferings and our struggles shall be forgot-
ten in our joy. Who shall be able to think of
sorrows, which return no more, when every man
shall be placed in his own sphere, in possession,
not only of the full extent, but of the complete
effect, of his faculties in their most animated
state ; associated with the purest spirits in the
intelligent creation, and destined to glorify the
God of Heaven through eternal ages ?

Do not these prospects of " the Father's
kingdom," and the certainty with which they
are announced to us, suggest the strongest con-
siderations to influence our present conduct, and
to excite our ardour in our present duties? Do
we not perceive, that it ought to be the first ob-
ject of solicitude to every human being, u to
work out his salvation," and to make it sure :
To allow nothing in the present life, nothing in
the temper of his mind, nothing in his pursuits
or in his affections, to deprive him of the high
hopes which are given him beyond the grave ?

• 1 Peter i. 8.

S£R. 13. FUTURITY. 4C7

Do we not feel the obligation impressed on our
consciences, " to live by the faith of the Son of
God," and " to keep ourselves unspotted from
the world;" To be faithful, to the utmost extent
of our capacities, " in that which is committed
to us ;" and to consider every thing, which can
ever be attached to our present conditions, as
subordinate and subservient to our permanent
interests in " the kingdom which cannot be mo-
ved r

It is humbling and awful to know, that there
are intelligent men, who take their portion in
the present world, as the only source of their
happiness or solicitude, and who aspire aftei
nothing in the kingdom of God : human crea-
tures, who banish immortality and heaven from
their thoughts, and deliberately barter, for the
fleeting pleasures or pursuits of this transitory
life, every expectation beyond it.

There cannot be a more dreadful reflection
awakened in the human mind, than that which
certainly awaits these unhappy men, " except
they repent;" that the hope of immortality and
of salvation b}' Jesus Christ, was once held out to
them, and held out to them in vain. Their pre-

428 PROSPECTS OF SER. 13.

sent state of mind is a melancholy anticipation
of the final result of their conduct. " The God
of this world," says the apostle Paul, " hath blind-
ed the minds of them who believe not, lest the
light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine unto them*." De-
liberate impenitence confirms their habits, till at
last, " being past feeling, they give themselves f "
up to a reprobate mind, " lest they should see with
their eyes, or hear with their ears, or understand
with their hearts, or be converted, or be healed J."
They take to themselves the license of a world-
ly mind; but " their glory is in their shame §;''
and " they know not what they do."

We cannot take this view of human charac-
ters without deep regret and solicitude. But,
on the other hand, it is equally interesting and
consolatory, to contemplate the prospects of
those, who hear not the gospel in vain, " whom
the God of hope hath filled with all peace and
joy in believing," and who, amidst all the infir-

* 2 Cor. iv. 4. f Ephcs. iv. ip.

J Matth. xiii. 15. § Philip, iii. 19.

FUTURII I . 4C9

mitiffl of the present life, " abound in hope,

through the power of the Holy Ghost*."

Their interest in " the kingdom of God"
equally determines their personal conduct, and
regulates their views of the present life. " They
are saved by hopef." They live for the world
which lasts for ever. " They go from strength
to strength; till every one of them appears in
/ion before God J." Their faith every day
penetrates farther " within the vail, whither the
forerunner is for us entered*." It sheds light
and peaee around all their lot. It sustains their
courage through life and death. It enables them
to become to one another the instruments of
mutual animation ami fortitude, during- their piU
grimage together: And it impresses this con-
viction deeply on their minds, that their interests
iu the kingdom of itud are permanent and cer-
tain ; that all their hope will be at last re-
alised ; that " their labour is not in vain in the
Lord ||;" and that " in due season, they shall
reap, if they faint not « .

k xv. 13. t K°m- *iii. 24.

V .i:n lx.wiv. 7. § Efeb. >i. ]$. 20.

. . f Gulat. •

430 prospects or sek. 13.

Let us consider,

II. That this text reminds those who believe
the gospel, that, though they must soon relin-
quish every thing which they possess in the pre-
sent world, there is a time approaching, when
their best satisfactions shall be both revived and
perfected.

This idea is naturally suggested to us, if we
suppose that our Lord intended to admonish his
disciples, that they were no longer to have ac-
cess to the intimate and personal intercourse with
him which they had hitherto enjoyed, till they
should follow him through death into the invi-
sible world, and be reunited to him in his Fa-
ther's kingdom. Conscious of the happiness
which he had given them, and which they had
enjoyed in common, from the time when they
became his disciples, it was impossible for them,
in receiving this intimation, to resist the impres-
sions of sorrow. It was impossible, above all,
for " the disciple whom Jesus loved," and who
at that moment " leaned on his bosom *," not
to be melted by the tenderest recollections, when

• St John xiii. 23.

sbh. 13. ruTURnr. 431

he heard from him these solemn words : " I say
unto vou, I will not henceforth drink of this
fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it
new with you in my Father's kingdom."

The situation of our Lord's disciples gives us
a striking view of our circumstances in the pre-
sent world. There is nothing in our possession,
which we shall not be required to relinquish,
whatever our regrets may be, or the pressure on
our strongest affections. The moment when wc
think our satisfactions at their height, or when
we are preparing to enjoy them in tranquillity,
is not seldom found to have given the signal of
happiness departing : of happiness departing, to
return no more, in this vale of mortality and
change.

The recollection of past enjoyments, which
are no longer in our possession, cannot but be
interesting. It will always awaken our strong-
est feelings, to remember those who have loved
us, who now sleep in the dust; the companions
of our youth, or the friends of our age; our pa-
rents, whom we reverenced as our first benefac-
tors ; or our children, whom we loved with the
tenderest affections ; those who once knew our

432 PROSPECTS OF SER. 13,

hearts as they were, whom we see no more. It
is impossible to consider, without emotion, how
much we were once interested in those whom
we remember with these impressions ; or how
much real happiness they either contributed, to
impart to us, or were permitted to participate in
our society.

Such a recollection is not to be resisted : The
recollection of satisfactions, endeared to us, by
their relation to our most important duties, and
to our best affections.

The happiness which we derive, even from
the acts of religion, or from good works, is as far
from being uniformly the same, as any other le*
gitimate source of our enjoyments in this world:
And a time must at last come, when even this
we can no longer possess, as we have once pos-
sessed it. The source of our communion with
God is permanent, though our capacity for en-
joying it, in the present life, has its appointed li-
mits, and must of necessity be often exhausted.
But when we are conscious, that our ardour is
no more what it was, we look back with me-
lancholy reflections, on the delight which we
could once receive frorn the prayer of faith, the

bER. 13. FUTtfRlTY. 433

labour of love, or the patience of hope, while
God answered us in the joy of our hearts; and
are too often in danger of pursuing these reflec-
tions beyond their proper limits.

The consolation, which Christianity opposes
to all such recollections or regrets, is founded on
this important fact, that there is a future state of
being, in which every enjoyment wcrrthy of our
rational nature will be revived and perfected;
or, in the language of this text, will be refined
and enriched, as " new wine in the Father's
kingdom."

We have no difficulty in anticipating the re-
vival and perfection of the advantages resulting
from the acts of religion. We think, with conr
fidence, also, of the happiness to be enjoyed in a
state of existence, in which every intelligent be-
ing will be pure, and in which nothing can be
wrong; in which every affection will be good,
and every virtue perfect; in which the image
of the eternal God will be completely impressed
on his rational offspring. We follow in our
thoughts the unmixed delights, which are now
enjoyed by " the spirits of just men made per-
fect ;" and we can look forward, with sensible

E c

PROSPECTS OF SER. 13.

emotion, to the time, when our faculties will not
be inferior to theirs, or when we shall be enr
lightened and pure, like them.

But we are not to suppose, that the happi-
ness of futurity is only to be derived from acts
of religion, or from the possession of personal
virtues ; or that the condition of men in the
eternal world, is to be so completely different
from their present state, as to exclude the re-
storation or revival of any source of substantial
happiness, enjoyed in this life, which is worthy
of our rational nature.

It is certain that on this subject we cannot
speak with precision or confidence; and that we
can only form our judgment from such analo-
gies, as are suggested by reason, or warranted
by Christianity.

The most important occupations, and the
most essential sources of happiness, which be-
long to good men, in the present world, have a
direct relation to the world to come. They are
designed to qualify them for occupations, or for
enjoyments in the kingdom of God, much
more excellent and refined, but not entirely
dissimilar in their nature. The wine of the

aiili. 13. FUTURITY. 43o

Father's kingdom u is new," but still it is wine.
It is adapted to the nature of man, and though
of a far superior quality, has a certain relation
or analogy, to that which he can relish or pos-
sess, in " the house of his pilgrimage."

We enter naturally into the happiness which
we suppose to arise, in the invisible world, from
the progress and perfection of the human mind.
We anticipate, without an eftort, the enjoyments
resulting from the full exercise of our faculties,
in their most perfect state, on the variety of the
works of God. And why may we not suppose,
that those who have, in this life, derived their
chief delight, and their most important occupa-
tions, from the culture and exertion of their in-
tellectual powers, will, in a more eminent de-
gree, than men whose minds have been diffe-
rently directed, derive from the same sources,
both their peculiar employments, and the hap-
piness resulting from them; after they shall have
risen to a superior order of intelligent spirits, and
shall be in a capacity to contemplate, with en-
larged and vigorous faculties, the expanded and
eternal glory, which is veiled from mortal eyes?

Ee 2

436 PROSPECTS OF SER. 13.

We can imagine, in like manner, that those
who receive their chief satisfactions in this world,
from the exercise of kind affections, or from
good works; from the ardour with which they
assist other men, or from their usefulness and fi-
delity in the Lord, will receive a proportional
distinction and pre-eminence in the world to
come. We can believe that this will be the
fact, not merely in respect of the relation which
the fulness of their reward will bear to their past
service, but also, because their peculiar joys, in
the kingdom of heaven, will result from the pro-
gress and perfection of the same general charac-
ter, which distinguishes them in the present life;
because they are destined to become the ardent
and active instruments of happiness to other
worlds, or will be permitted to assist the service,
and to add to the enjoyments, of the blessed spir
rits, with whom they are at last to dwell.

In this view of the subject, it is natural to
imagine, that the attachments and recollections
of the present life will not be lost in the king-
dom of heaven. The gospel uniformly con^
nects the happiness of glorified saints, with their
association together, and with the multitude of

SER. 13* FUTURITY. 43/

those who are employed in the same occupa-
tions, or enjoy the same felicity. The apostles
speak of those who are " their hope, their joy,
their crown of rejoicing, their glory, at the com-
ing of our Lord Jesus Christ * :" And " they
that be wise," are affirmed " to shine as the
brightness of the firmament, and they that turn
many to righteousness, as the stars, for ever and
everf." Our Lord refers his disciples to the
day when " he will drink new wine with them,
in the kingdom of his Father;" and he trans-
mits it as a fact to every age of the world, that,
among those whom he selected for his personal
intercourse on earth, there was one disciple J,
and one family §, whom he loved, with a pe-
culiar kindness and affection.

These circumstances render it at least a pro-
bable, as it is a delightful, supposition, that those
who have been endeared to us, by the affections
of the present life, will be peculiar objects of
our attention in a happier world. The chief
felicity of glorified saints is no doubt derived

* 1 Thcs. ii. 19. 20. f Dan. xii. Q.

% St John xiii. 23. § St John xi. 5,

438 PROSPECTS OF SER. 13.

from their communion with " the everlasting
Father," " of whom are all tilings," and with
" the only begotten of the Father, by whom are
all things/' Every individual creature, in " the
Father's kingdom," will besides be qualified to
promote the happiness of those with Whom he
is associated; and, bearing " the image of the in-
visible God," will himself be an object of gene-
ral kindness and affection. But we are notwith-
standing permitted, or naturally led, to believe,
that those to whom we have been intimately
united in the present life, and who ate with us
" partakers of the glory hereafter to be reveal-
ed," will be in a peculiar degree, or in a man-
ner peculiar to themselves, the companions of
our service, or the associates in our happiness.

The manner in which we are to exist, after
the resurrection of the dead, may have more a-
nalogy to our present state, than we can now
venture to affirm : And, on the other hand, it is
equally certain, that many of the objects of our
present affections, on which we set a value be-
yond their worth, and which we allow ourselves
to regret in vain, Will be ultimately lost to us,
because they cannot enter into " the kingdom

SEE. 13. FUTURITY. 439

of Christ and of God." But it is a sufficient con-
solation to believe, that all the happiness, which
we have at present good reason, either to value or
to regret, and which is capable, from its nature
and substance, of being renewed in the invisible
world, will be at last restored to us in a better
form, than that in which we have enjoyed it in
this life. We shall possess it without interrup-
tion for ever, incorporated with the views, and
with the happiness of superior beings. Like the
seraphims who execute the decrees of God, and
proclaim his glory, we shall go to our appointed
service with those, who are destined to take the
most affectionate interest in our felicity. The
fidelity, which was begun on earth, will be per-
fected in heaven ; and the service, which is be-
yond the sphere of mortal beings, will be the
signal of everlasting union and activity among
the Sons of God.

Let us now consider,

III. That this text reminds those who believe
and obey the gospel, that though the time of
their departure from this world should be near,
when they must sleep in the dust of the earth,
they are certain that their spirits will 'not die;

440 prospects or ser. 13.

and that they shall awake " to glory and to an
endless life," " in the kingdom of the Father. "

It is wisely ordered by the constitution of our
nature, and is necessary, both for the purposes
of the present life, and for our effectual prepara-
tion for a higher state of existence, that every
man should have a strong and a perpetual aver-
sion to the dissolution of his body, and should
also remain in ignorance of the time when he is
to experience that event. We should not be
qualified, either to fulfil our present duties, or to
accomplish the ends of our probation, if we were
not, bn the one hand, impelled by our feelings
to defend ourselves against the approaches of
death ; and did not believe, on the other, that
our interests in this world are of sufficient impor-
tance and permanency, to excite both our ar-
dour and our perseverance.

It is equally certain, and of equal importance
to our essential duties, that every man receives
perpetual admonitions of the uncertainty of the
time allotted him in this world. In the pro-
gress of human life, we have an irresistible con-
sciousness of our gradual approach to our last
decline : And individuals, at very different pe-

8ER. 13. tUTURlTV. 441

riods, have still more direct intimations, that
u the time of their departure is at hand."

Strong impressions on this subject are of the
most solemn kind j and we are too apt to anti-
cipate, with every melancholy reflection, the
minute circumstances of our approaching disso-
lution. We consider, with irresistible impa-
tience, that all that is now before our sight, will
completely disappear; that the light of day will
close on us for ever ; that we shall leave behind
us every object of our tenderness, and every
thing in this world, which has ever occupied our
thouo-hts or en&ao-ed our hearts ; that we shall
o-o alone into the chambers of death, insensible
and unconscious of every thing, wrapt up in the
dust of the earth ; and that our bodies, dissolved
and separated there, will be as completely mixed
with the elements of matter, as if they had never
had a relation to intelligent minds.

It is a dreadful reflection, if we had no conso-
lation to balance it, that this scene of horror is
preparing for us all ; and that no individual can
have any security, that the time is not at hand,
when it shall be fully realised in his own expe-
rience. From the aged it cannot be distant;

442 PROSPECTS OF SER. 13.

But every one of us must know, that the sum-
mons to die, may reach us as effectually in the
morning or in the vigour of life, as when it is
not issued till the evening-tide.

The text was originally addressed to the
apostles : " I say unto you, I will not henceforth
drink of this fruit of the vine, until that day
when I drink it new with you, in my Father's
kingdom." But if we can imagine it to be in
any circumstances directed to ourselves, because
" the time of our departure" is not distant, or
because we have good reason to view our death
as approaching, we are at least authorized to
consider it, as holding out a consolation, suffi-
cient to compensate to us for every humbling or
awful circumstance, in the event of which it fore-
warns us. It says, that our spirits shall not
die, although their " mortal tabernacle" is dis-
solved : It says, that our spirits shall continue to
think, to act, and to enjoy, notwithstanding their
separation from our bodily organs. It says, that
our spirits shall pass directly, from their embo-
died state, into the presence of the Lord, to ex-
ist, where he is, " in his Father's kingdom."
It says, that though, after the death of the body,

SER. 13. FU'IURITV. 443

we must cease to exercise the senses, from which
we derive our present knowledge of external
nature, we shall find ourselves immediately sur-
rounded by the glories of a greater world, and
by a multitude of pure and glorious spirits, ma-
ny of whom were once the companions of our
pilgrimage in this world, who have gone before
us to our Father's house. It says besides, that
the most humbling circumstances in the dissolu-
tion of the body, do not leave us without the
hope of its restoration. The resurrection of the
dead, at the second "coming of the Lord from
heaven, when "all who are in their graves shall
hear his voice*," is held out to us by the gospel,
to render our prospects in the invisible world
complete. Our bodies, raised from the dead,
"spiritual and incorruptible f," "like to the
glorified body of the Son of God J," will be
united for ever to our immortal spirits, "and so
shall we be ever with the Lord§."

When I suppose the text to refer us to these
consolatory views of death and futurity, I sup-
pose the language in which it is expressed, to

• St John v. 28. t 1 Cor. xv. 42. 44.

% Philip, iii. 21. § 1 Thcs. iv. If.

444< PROSPECTS OF SER. 13*

be illustrated by the doctrine of " life and im-
mortality, brought to light," and expanded by
" the gospel."

Our knowledge on this subject cannot be mi-
nute, and must be confined to general facts.
But why should we refuse to be comforted, or
why should our hearts sink within us, though
" the time of our departure" should be near?
" We know that our Redeemer liveth," and that
his dominion is greater than the powers of death
and hell. We are certain that " he is risen from
the dead," and " that he shall stand at the last
day on the earth*." His resurrection is both
the pattern, and the assured pledge of ours.
" We know," says an apostle, " that he which
raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise up us also
by Jesus f." " We have not," therefore, "re-
ceived the spirit of bondage or of fear; but we
have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we
cry, Abba Father J :" For " we are all the
children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus §;"
" and if children, then heirs; heirs of God>

*. Job xix* 25. f 2 Cor. iv. 14*

i Rom. viii. 15^ § Galat* iii. 26.

SER. 13. FUTURITY. 445

and joint heirs with Christ; if so be, that we
suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together *."

The certainty of the immortality of the spirit,
and of the resurrection of the dead, is supported
by evidence as complete, as the nature of the
subject admits of; and ought to afford those
who believe the gospel most effectual consola-
tions, under the sense of their mortality.

I have already said so much of the happiness
of glorified spirits, and of their association toge-
ther, after the resurrection of the dead, that it is
not necessary to pursue this view of the subject
farther.

But why should our minds be shaken, or why
should our courage fail us, though the hour of
our death should be approaching? "Our times
are wholly in the hand of God." It is of much
more importance to every individual man, than
length of days, or than any duration or degree
of prosperity in this world, that, while he lives,
" he should live by the faith of the Son of God,"
in dutiful subjection to the Father of his spirit,

* Romans viii. 1"

446 PROSPECTS OF SKK. IS.

and "in the hope of eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord;" and that he should at last be able to
adopt the language of the apostle, under the im-
pressions of approaching death. M I am now:
ready to be offered, and the time of my depar-
ture is at hand ; I have fought a good fight ; I
have finished my course ; I have kept the faith ;
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown ot
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, shall give to me at that day; and not to.
me only, but unto all them also who love his
appearing *•"

Death is only dreadful to those, who are far
from God, and from " the way of peace :" Ta
those, whose defect of principle, or whose viola-
tion of morals, demonstrates, that they are not
the u heirs of the kingdom of God." They
" have no hope," because " they are without
God in the world."

But death has no such terrors to those who
believe and obey the gospel. " There is no
condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus,
who walk, not after the flesh, but after the spi-

• 2 Tim. iv. 6. 7> &.

SEll. 13. FUTURITY. 447

lit*." "They shall not perUh, hut shall have
everlasting lifef." They die, to rise again:
" They enter into peace : They rest in their
graves 1 ? Every one of them shall be found in
his place at the last day.

" Now may the God of all grace, who hath
called us unto his eternal glory, by Christ Jesus,
after that ye have suffered for a while, make you
perfect, stablish, strengthen, and settle you. To
him be glory and dominion for ever and ever,
Amen §."

* Horn. viii. 1. t St John iii. l6.

I Isaiah 1 v it. ?. § 1 Peter v. 10. 11.

SERMON XIV,

ON THE

CULTIVATION OF PERSONAL RELIGION,

jude 20. 21.
" But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your
most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto
eternal lifer

" JLf a man love me," said our Lord, " he will
keep my words, and my Father will love him,
and we will come unto, him, and make our a-
bode with him*." The state of mind, which
is the result of the influence of religion, is the
source both of the purest conduct, and of the

• St John xiv. 2.

SEH. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 449

most substantial happiness, of which human na-
ture is capable. He who preserves on his mind
an habitual sense of his relation to God, and
who derives from the will of God both the
principle and the rule of his conduct, possesses
the most enviable distinction, as well as the most
precious enjoyments of this life. The favour of
God compensates to him every external disad-
vantage, and enables him to sustain every exter-
nal calamity.

But every good man has not the same con-
sciousness of the favour of God, nor has even
the same man the same reliance on it at every
time. Our progress in personal religion is not
uniform, and is certainly far from being equal.
Our knowledge of ourselves is very different, as
well as our fidelity in practical duties.

The state of mind into which vital religion
introduces us, must be supported and steadily cul-
tivated, in order to be effectually preserved. The
spirit of religion, and the consolations derived
from it, must be cherished and confirmed by the
means which Christianity prescribes; and these
we must learn to apply, both with fidelity and

F f

4.50 CULTIVATION OF SER. 14.

earnestness, if " we would keep ourselves in the
love of God," or enjoy the comfort which ought
to result from the sense of it.

The admonition of the text is an illustration
of this doctrine. The apostle supposes those, to
whom it is addressed, to be in possession of the
favour of God, lc through the sanctification of
the Spirit, and the belief of the truth ;" and he
exhorts them to preserve and to guard their
state of mind, by a faithful and conscientious ap-
plication of the means, which this text represents
in succession :

1. By a constant recourse to the great objects
of their faith, from which they derive both their
motives and their consolations.

2. By the habits of earnest prayer to God,
animated by their reliance on his Holy Spirit.
And,

3. By an habitual confidence in the mercy
of Christ, steadily supported, till the ends of
their faith are attained.

By these means, faithfully employed, and
sanctified by the blessing of God, the apostle
supposes the spirit of practical religion to be
effectually cultivated and maintained. " Build-

Slilt. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 451

ing up yourselves on your most holy faith, and
praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in,
the love of God, looking for the mercy of our
Lord Jesus Christ, unto eternal life."

I shall endeavour to illustrate these different
views of the subject.

I. In order " to keep ourselves in the love of
God," we are required to have perpetual re-
course to the great objects of our faith ; from
which we ought to derive both the motives of
our conduct, and our personal consolations.

The faith which we embrace, and the sinceri-
ty with which we maintain it, must lie at the
foundation of all practical religion. We worship
and serve " one God and Father of all, who is
above all, and through all, and in us all," be-
cause we ascribe to him infinite and immutable
perfections ; because we believe in his supreme
and universal sovereignty ; because we know
that we shall ultimately account to him for our
conduct ; and because we are fully persuaded,
that he is " the re warder of them who diligent-
ly seek him." Every idea of the influence of
religion depends ultimately on the faith with

452 CULTIVATION OF SER. 14.

which we receive these essential doctrines, and
on the sincerity and stedfastness with which we
adhere to them.

In like manner, practical Christianity, while
it involves, in its substance, our faith in God, and
our absolute subjection to him, can only be the
result of the faith of the gospel. We become
the disciples of Christ, because we believe that,
as " there is one God, there is one mediator be-
twixt God and man, the man Christ Jesus;"
and that he is " the only begotten of the Father,"
" by whom are all things;" that God sent his Son
into the world, " that whosoever believeth on
him might not perish, but have everlasting life;"
that he died to expiate our sins according to the
Scriptures; and " to purify to himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works ;" and that he
was raised from the dead by the power of God ;
that he is now " at the right hand of the majes-
ty on high ;" and " hath the keys of hell and
death."

On these facts the church of Christ is built :
And we are his disciples, when we embrace the
doctrine which depends on them, sincerely and
without reserve, as the law of our lives, as well

SER. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. ±53

as the foundation of our hopes; not only ac-
knowledging the authority with which it is ad-
dressed to us, but earnestly solicitous to make a
uniform, conscientious, and faithful application
of it to its practical ends.

This is the faith, " the most holy faith," on
which alone practical Christianity can be built;
and by means of which, " we keep ourselves in
the love of God." We rest on it our hopes and
our consolations. We derive from it the great
animating principle of all our fidelity.

We shall find the best illustrations of this
doctrine, by attending to the minute experience
of those, who make practical religion, and its in-
fluence on their personal conduct, the chief ob-
jects of their solicitude.

How does a man persuade himself, on good
grounds, that he is in peace with God ? " Not
by works of righteousness which he has done ;"
nor by any conviction of his understanding, that
he is either pure in heart, or free from sin. The
degrees of personal guilt are as different, as the
features which distinguish the countenances of
individual men. But every man who consults
his conscience, feels, that before God he is a

454 CULTIVATION OF SER. 14.

sinner, and, if he has deliberated dispassionately
on the subject, that he has no personal resources
for the expiation of sin. He is bound to repent
of the sins, which he knows himself to have
committed. But repentance, after sin, is as
much the indispensible duty of the creature to
the creator, as his obedience is, to any positive
precept of the moral law ; and can therefore no
more create a claim of merit at the tribunal of
God, for the forgiveness of sins, than a deed of
charity cab, before men, compensate the guilt
of a flagrant injury.

Embracing the gospel, as the foundation of
his hope and consolation^ a man is in peace with
God, " not by works of righteousness which he
has done," but by means of his settled and deli-
berate faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, as " the
mediator betwixt God and man*;" and by
means of the sincerity and firm resolution, with
which he submits to his authority, and to the law
which he has given us f .

He is in peace with himself, and is assured
that he is in peace with God, when he proves

s 1 Tim. ii. 5. Rom. iii. 23—26. t Galat. ii. 20.

-Eli. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 455

his faith by its practical influence on his conduct,
and on the temper of his mind, lie demon-
strates his interest in the blessings of the gospel,
by his fidelity in maintaining its spirit and au-
thority.

The faith of Christianity, and its power over
the conscience, is not only the chief principle of
Christian morals, but the only legitimate source
from which a o;ood man can derive his internal
tranquillity.

How is it then, that a faithful man is enabled
to preserve his state of mind entire? " Building
up himself on his most holy faith, he keeps him-
self in the love of God." He is perpetually re-
curring to the foundations of his faith and hope ;
to the sources of consolation on which he relies;
to the mercy which assures him of peace with
God ; to the grace which is sealed to him by
the blood of atonement; to the considerations
by which he ought to guard his fidelity, arising
from the strict account which he knows he must
give of his conduct, at the tribunal of God ; and
to the help by which he believes himself to be
prepared for every duty, and to be enabled to
maintain every struggle required of him. His

456 CULTIVATION OF SER. 14.

faith is therefore constantly acquiring an encrea-
sing vigour and confirmation; and by applying
it steadily to the various departments of his duty,
he becomes every day purer in his conduct, and
better assured of his interest in the source of pu-
rity and love.

By attending to the situations in which the
strength of religious principle is most severely
tried, we shall find the most striking examples
of the efficacy of the faith, which is steadily
cultivated for the purposes of practical religion,
to sustain our courage and to promote our tran-
quillity.

The best of men have their hours of despon-
dency, when their reflections on the imperfec-
tions of human nature, and on their personal in-
firmities, are combined with strong impressions
of the account which they must render to
God. Their present conduct cannot afford
them considerations, on this subject, sufficient
to satisfy their minds. But " their most holy
faith" which, on authority on which they
have learned to rely, assures them of u the grace
which is brought unto us by the revelation of
Jesus Christ," effectually relieves their apprehen-

SEU. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 457

sions, and both revives their courage, and re-
stores their tranquillity. " If God be for us,
who can be against us? — It is God that justifi-
ed], who is he that condemneth? It is Christ
that died, yea rather that is risen again, who is
ever at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us#."

When they suffer most severely, either from
personal afflictions, or from heavy disappoint-
ments in the present world, it is the faith of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and their reliance on the cer-
tainty of that which they believe, to which they
immediately recur. By the views and conside-
rations to which their faith directs them, they
both adopt the language, and imbibe the spirit,
of a firm and enlightened resignation. " We
know that all things work together for good, to
them who love God;" and, from a deliberate
reliance on his wisdom, we can commit our-
selves implicitly into his hands, and teach our
hearts to say, "The will of the Lord be done."

When they are exposed to dangerous temp-
tations, which derive their strength from the
known tendency, or from the peculiar temper

• Rom. viii. 31, 33. 34.

458 CULTIVATION OF SER. 14.

of their minds, the faith of the gospel reminds
them, how the Lord said to a disciple whose
fidelity was put to the severest test, " I have
prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not;" and,
persuaded that the intercession of the Lord
avails them also, in the hour of trial, " they
take to themselves the whole armour of God."

When they are required, hy their peculiar si*
tuations, to give to the world eminent examples
of " holy conversation and godliness," or of ac-
tive virtues and of good works, they derive
from " their most holy faith," both the princi-
ple which animates them, and the motives
which determine their conduct. By " simpli-
city and godly sincerity ;" by purity " unspot-
ted from the world ;" by the " love which is not
easily provoked, which vaunteth not itself, and
which seeketh not its own ;" by the " charity
which thinketh no evil, which hopeth and be-
lieveth all things," and which is " the perfect
bond ;* by earnestness and patience in the good
works which they have the means of fulfilling,
they glorify God in this world, and " lay up for
themselves a good foundation against the time to

sER. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 459

come, that tliey may lay hold on eternal life*."
They demonstrate, by its practical effects, what
the faith of the gospel can accomplish, by means
of those who sincerely embrace it, for the ho-
nour and advantage of human life; while it is
the chief, or comparatively the only, solicitude
which occupies their thoughts, that their talents
may not be unemployed in their natural sphere,
and that they may at last be accounted worthy
to receive this decisive intimation, that their ser-
vice is accepted, from him who "shall judge the
quick and the dead ;n " I know your works and
charity, and service, and faith, and patience ;
and the last to be more than the first f."

The defects of human nature adhere to our
best fidelity in practical duties. But M faith pu-
rifieth our hearts," and by " works is faith made
perfect."

The faith which supports a good man's
courage, and animates his labours through life,
will not desert him when he must close the
scene. His decline has its consolations, as well
as the vigour of his life: and he is not afraid of

* 1 Tim. vi. ly. f Rev. ii. 19.

460 CULTIVATION OF SER. 14.

death, for lie can look with the confidence of
hope beyond it. When he perceives the last
and solemn hour approaching, if his faculties are
entire, " his most holy faith" is the strength of
his heart: and though he is not destitute of the
feelings either of a mortal, or of an imperfect,
creature, he can deliberately prepare for his last
summons, and believe that he shall tC depart in
peace," " having seen the salvation of God."

These different examples represent to us the
manner, in which a firm believer of the gospel
is accustomed to apply the objects of his faith
minutely, to their practical ends. His faith ac-
quires, by exercise and habit, both strength and
stability ; and has more and more the command
of his mind and affections : And, therefore, no
means more effectual can be represented, by
which he can cultivate the influence and pro-
gress of personal religion, or V keep himself in
the love of God." The application of his faith
and hope to every department of his duty, and
to every concern of time and of eternity, ren-
ders his communion with God perpetual ; and,
effectually prepared by the considerations which
he derives from the gospel, to which he is con-

SER. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 46l

stantly recurring, both to do and to suffer all the
will of God, " he grows in grace," and in con-
formity to the image of the Son of God, being
11 fruitful in every good word and work."

By attending to the means, by which a good
man preserves his state of mind, we may readily
perceive, on the other hand, in what circum-
stances we relinquish the spirit of vital religion,
or lose the sense of communion with God. We
do not " keep ourselves in the love of God,"
when " we live by sight, and not by faith ;"
when we allow ourselves to receive our leading
views, or our chief satisfactions, rather from the
world of sense, than from the objects of our
faith and hope, or from our fidelity in our pecu-
liar duties; and, when our predominant motives
and resources are taken, not from the spirit or
the laws of religion, but from the spirit and the
manners of the world.

A man, who is no stranger to the faith of the
gospel, may fall into this state of mind, when he
is imperceptibly betrayed, through the deceitful-
ness of sin, to listen to the maxims, or to become
familiar with the vices of worldly men ; when
lie neglects the views and resources, with which

4&2 CULTIVATION OF SER. 14.

religion furnishes him, and, without having re-
course to them, attempts to find all his personal
enjoyments in the objects around him ; when he
ceases to cultivate the hopes and impressions,
which he derives from religion, and builds no
longer his tranquillity on " his most holy faith."
A man may fall into this state of mind, before
he is aware, and, when he experiences it, he
lias every unhappy consequence to apprehend
from its progress. The faith of a Christian, and
the snares of the world, are in perpetual opposi-
tion to each other: And he who is conscious
that he has lost much of the spirit of religion, by
his neglect of the means by which it requires to
be cultivated, or by his deliberate familiarity
with the manners of the world, with which it
must ever be at variance, has good reason to lis-
ten, with deep humiliation and awe, to the ad-
monition given by our Lord to the church of
Sardis; "I know thy works, that thou hast a
narne that thou livest, and art dead. Be watch-
ful, and strengthen the things which remain and
are ready to die, for I have not found thy
works perfect before God. Remember there-

^ER. 14. PERSONAL RKLIGION. 463

fore, how thou hast received and heard, and hold
fast, and repent*."

From the views which I have given of this
branch of the subject, we cannot fail to observe
the inseparable connexion betwixt the peculiar
faith of a Christian, and the spirit and substance
of vital Christianity. Where would be the re-
ligion of a man, such as I have represented a
Christian to be, if he were deprived of the pe-
culiar views and impressions, which he receives
from his faith in the blood of atonement; in the
mercy of God, or in the grace which is given
us, by Christ Jesus; in the resurrection of the
Son of God from the dead ; in his perpetual do-
minion in heaven and earth; in " the judg-
ment of the great day;"' and in the certain-
ty and glories of " the Father's kingdom,"
after " the times of the restitution of all thinffsr"
Independent of these great objects of his faith,
from what source could a Christian man de-
rive either his motives or his consolations? Or
where could he find the weapons of his war-
fare? Every affection of his mind, as a Christi-
an, depends on the substance of his faith. Take

* Rev. iii. 1. 'J. .

464 CULTIVATION OF SER. 14.

this away, and he has neither motives, resour-
ces, nor affections, to distinguish him from men,
who find all their happiness in the present world.

We ought to observe besides, that the spirit of
this world will never lead men to God, or per-
suade them, either to seek, or to desire his fa-
vour. If we are indeed the disciples of Christ,
it is by the faith of the gospel, and by its living
power; by the stedfastness, the energy, and the
purity, which our affections and our whole con-
duct derive from it; that we either possess this
distinction, or can preserve it. " We build up
ourselves on our most holy faith," and therefore
" we keep ourselves in the love of God."

Let us now consider,

II. That good men are represented, in this
text, as preserving their state of mind, by means
of the habits of earnest prayer to God, anima-
ted by their reliance on his Holy Spirit : " pray-
ing in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the
love of God."

The meaning of the language, in this text, is
explained by the apostle Paul in the eighth chap-
ter of the epistle to the Romans. " The Spirit al-
so helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what

II. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 46'j

we should pray fur, as we ought; but the Spirit
itself maketh intercession for us, (or within us,)
" with groaning! (or, with an earnestness) which
cannot be uttered," (or, which cannot always be
expressed in words*.)

The exhortation of the text supposes, that the
continued habits of earnest prayer, in which good
men are assisted and animated by the Spirit of
God, are essential means of their progress in vi-
tal religion : And that they are of great import-
ance to preserve the state of mind, which is the
result of faith and godliness; both to maintain
their communion with God, and their sense of
his favour.

Our prayers cannot be necessary to explain
our situations to God, to whom every circum-
stance which relates to them is intimately known.
But they are of great importance to ourselves ;
to preserve on our minds a perpetual sense of
our dependence on God; to keep constantly
open the channel of communion with the Fa-
ther of our spirits; and, by means of our ear-
nestness to obtain the blessings, which are the

* Hum. viii. 26.

466* CULTIVATION OF SER. 14.

subjects of our prayers, to cultivate the impres-
sions and affections, by which the spirit of vital
religion is supported and confirmed.

We are not influenced or determined by our
understandings alone. Our firmest persuasion
would not be effectual to attain the ends of our
faith, if it were not constantly assisted by the
effects of devotion. " The prayer of faith" has
far more energy, than our most deliberate con-
victions. When our fervent desires are embo-
died with the faith, which assures us that our
prayer will be heard before the throne of God,
it is then, above all, that " we are filled with
peace and joy in believing, and abound in hope,
through the power of the Holy Ghost."

The effect of earnest devotion may be ascer-
tained, by means of every subject to which it re-
lates.

We implore the mercy, or the help, which
our peculiar situations require. I«bur prayer
comes from our hearts, we feel, at the moment
when we utter it, how great our personal weak-
ness is, and how precious our dependence on
God; how inestimable the blood of atonement
to a sinful man; how gracious the pardon

U|Ki 14. PCaSONAL KKi [c.iu.V. 467

which is freely given, and winch shall never be
ailed j how infinitely consolatory it is to be-
lieve, that " nur heavenly Father will give the
Holj Spirit (.» them who ask him."

The earnestness <<f our prayer, as often as wc
renew it, is tiie seal of these important truths on
our hearts; and, it* we are in the habit of
vent devotion, it is the pledge of the solicitude

with which we follow them out through life.
We rise from prayer, to watchfulness, and to trust
in God. If we believe that we are heard with
favour " at the throne of -race;" we are more
than ever determined to devote our talents to

our duties, and " to keep ourselves unspotted

from the world."

'I here is, a peculiar energy in fervent prav-
W hen we feel more than common anxie-

f.v U) obtain particular mercies to ourselves,
or to those in whom we are deeply interest-
ed, our solicitude is chastened and sanctifi-
ed by the faith and confidence with which we
commend our desires to God. We are pre-
pared by the a£ectioni which our devotion 1
eite> and Confirms, to receive, as the gift of love,
the bjessing which we have implored : or, if

468 CULTIVATION OF SER. 14.

that blessing is denied us, we are prepared to
find the answer given us from heaven, in the re-
verence with which we are enabled to contem-
plate the decision of God, as the result of kind-
ness as well as of wisdom : and, in this case, we
look back on our prayer, as the means by which
we have attained the resignation, which teaches
us to say from our hearts, " good is the will of
the Lord :" " Not our will, but thine be done."
When " the candle of the Lord" ceases " to
shine on our tabernacle," and " we lie down in
sorrow," under the pressure of aggravated afflic-
tion, prayer is our resource and our consolation.
It is a precious resource, when we feel that the
hand of God is on us, and come to him with
faith and submission, as a partakers of the suffer-
ings of Christ;" committing ourselves to his
counsels, and imploring the help which can only
come from him. Our communion with hea-
ven is close indeed, when our afflictions are the
signal for prayer, and effectually teach us to bless
the name of the Lord ; and, when, under the
heaviest pressures, we find the result of our
prayers in " the peace of God, which keeps the
heart and mind by Christ Jesus."

sEIt. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION'. 46<)

But tlic admonition of the text does not mere-
ly relate to cases, in which the earnestness of
prayer is the effect of extraordinary difficulties
or calamities. It supposes prayer to be the ha-
bitual resource, as well as the most salutary em-
ployment, of a good man, in his usual state of
mind. lie, who makes personal religion the
business of his life, finds a subject of prayer in
every thing which interests him. From every
situation, he looks up to God, as his kind- and
merciful Father in Christ ; as the author of all
his blessings, whose kindness and forbearance
have never forsaken him ; from whom he de-
jives every cheering hope and expectation ; to
whom he is indebted for all the consolations
which have hitherto supported him ; and in
whom he feels himself bound to place the most
unreserved confidence, with regard to all that is
to come.

It should require no laboured deduction, to
convince us of the practical effects of earnest and
habitual prayer. He, " who lives by the faith
of the Son of God," and who finds perpetual
delight and consolation in believing, that Christ
u appears in the presence of God for us," and

470 CULTIVATION OP SEli. 14.

that " whatsoever we ask of the Father in his
name *," we shall receive, is animated by pray-
er and thanksgiving, in every pure motive, in
every good work, in every hour of temptation,
in every branch of his preparation for the happi-
ness of a perfect world. His persuasion that he
lives " in the communion of the Son and of the
Father," gives a charm to every external situation
in the present life, and sheds a light around its
worst calamities. He perseveres in his active
duties with a stedfast resolution, and fulfils
them with alacrity and zeal, because he is " sanc-
tified by the Holy Ghost," and " by prayer."

If any proof were requisite, that these are
truly the practical effects of earnest and habitu-
al devotion, we have only to consider the situa-
tion of those who do not pray : or of those,
who, from the intercourse and bustle of the
world, lose the spirit and the ardour of pray-
er. Their deadened souls, laid open to every
worldly affection, agitated b}' every worldly
interest, conscious of the pernicious impres-
sion of every strong temptation, are impercepti-
bly more and more alienated from every object

* St'John xvi. 23.

SEIi. 14. PERSONAL RKI.IGIOX. 471

of their faith and hope, and have every clay less
dependence on them. They feel, as if every suc-
cessive period of time served to diminish their
expectations from God, their solicitude to obtain
his favour, and their reliance on the hope of sal-
vation. They know much more of the dread,
than of the awe, of God ; although they are
most unwilling to examine minutely their re-
flections on this subject. If they attempt, in this
state of mind, to pray, it is without persuasion
or earnestness. If they do not pray at all, they
are far indeed from " life and peace."

This representation will apply, in many points,
to the criminal defection of a Christian, as well
as to him who is farther still from prayer. But
the situations of both demonstrate, that without
prayer, men cannot be in the communion of
God ; and that, by means of prayer, deadened,
interrupted, and habitually neglected, a deep
wound is given to the best affections of the hu-
man soul, to its best capacities for active duties,
and to its most important and most permanent
interests.

Whether we have the experience of these
truths, or only know them to be verified by the

472 CULTIVATION OF SER. 14.

experience of other men, they ought to bring
forcibly home to our consciences our personal
obligation, " to watch unto prayer." " The
prayer of faith" will heal the sickened soul. He
who " had fallen from his first love," and from
" his first works," and who returns to God,
" praying in the Holy Ghost," will find, in the
sincerity and the fervour of his heart, the signals
of effectual revival.

On the other hand, he who " prays without
ceasing," " according to the grace which is gi-
ven him," " keeps his heart with all diligence,"
and " goes from strength to strength." The
vigilance which guards and preserves him, is
supported by his dependence on God : and his
faith will not fail, when his heart is faint. " He
shall have life, and shall have it more abundant-
ly *>" " till he obtains the salvation which is in
Christ Jesus, with eternal glory f."

I have still to consider*

III. That good men are represented in this
text, as preserving their state of mind, by means
of an habitual confidence in the mercy of Christ,

* St John x. 10. t 2 Tim. ii. K.

SER. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 473

steadily supported, till the ends of their faith are
attained. " Keep yourselves in the love of God,
looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ,
unto eternal life."

In the best state of our minds, we must be
conscious of our absolute and perpetual depen-
dence on the mercy of God, without which, as
sinful and fallible men, we could neither possess
hopes nor consolations. But, that the awe of
the infinite majesty of the everlasting God may
not overwhelm us, the gospel holds out to us
the mercy of Christ, in whom the human nature
is united to " the brightness of the Father's glo-
ry, and the express image of his person ;" in or-
der to give us a perpetual pledge of the kindness
and tender mercy of God, equally adapted to our
infirmities, and to the present condition of our
faculties.

The exhortation of this text supposes, that, by
relying on " the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ,"
amidst all the weakness which adheres to us, even
in our nearest approaches to purity of conduct,
till we are at last made perfect, in the possession
of eternal life, " we keep ourselves in the love of
God," and are able to preserve the sense of it.

474 CULTIVATION OF SER. 14.

It is only experience which illustrates this doc-
trine ; our personal experience, in different situa-
tions, of the effects of our reliance on the mer-
cy of Christ.

When we take a deliberate and dispassionate
review of the state of our minds, and of our perso-
nal conduct, we must always be conscious, that,
in comparison with the means and talents which
have been given us, we have done little indeed,
for the advantage of the world, for the substan-
tial interests of morals or of religion, or for the
glory of God among mankind. We cannot
disguise to ourselves our conviction of the duties,
which we know we have deliberately neglected :
Nor is it possible for us to forget the situations,
in which the duties which we have best dis-
charged before the world, have been either per-
formed without their proper motives, or polluted
by motives to which we cannot reconcile even
our own minds. When we add to these recol-
lections, our consciousness of the positive errors
and sins, for which our own hearts condemn us,
notwithstanding our firmest resolutions, and even
after our best repentance, it is only our reli-
ance on " the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ,"

SER. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 475

which can reconcile us to ourselves, or which
can afford us satisfactory reasons for believing,
that we are in peace with God. We look with
faith and earnestness to Christ, the mediator
with God for us; certain of his sympathy, for
" he was tempted in all points, as we are tempt-
ed, though he was without sin." We know that
" he is touched with the feeling of our infirmi-
ties *," and therefore we believe, that he is rea-
dy to help us, in all our temptations. Our reli-.
ance on his kind and continued compassion re-
vives our ardour, or supports it, in every good
work; and effectually persuades us, that God
hath mercy on us, by the Son of his love. "We
look to the mercy of Christ," and commit our-
selves to him ; and we lift our eyes, with hum-
ble confidence and hope, " to his Father and our
Father, and to his God, and our Godf."

In the furnace of affliction, we know the full
effects of our reliance on the compassions of the
Lord. The trial is severe, and flesh and blood
will shrink before it, when the external blessings,
which we most value, are taken away, or our

* Pleb. iv. 15. f St J°ha xx\ lf«

476 CULTIVATION OF SER. 14,

means of enjoying them. " Our faith, more pre-
cious than gold which perisheth, is tried with
fire*." But " in the midst of the fire, we see
one like unto the Son of God.** We hear him
say again, what he said to his disciples when he
left them in the world ; " I will pray the Father,
and he will give you another comforter, who
will abide with you for ever f."

We look to the mercy of Christ, and to his
perpetual intercession for us, in the time of sor-
row, under the pressure of temptation, when our
resources or when our spirits fail, when our faith
is shaken, or when our courage is exhausted.
The assurance of his kind attention to our in-
terests, " before the Majesty on high" is the
pledge of consolations, which will never fail.
Certain of the efficacy of his intercession, we are
sure " that God will not forsake the works of
his own hands J," and that " we are kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation §."

Good men preserve their state of mind, and
support their ardour in their peculiar duties, by
means of their confidence " in the mercy of

• 1 Peter i. 7. i St John xiv. l6.

% Psalm cxxxviii. 8. § I Peter i. 5.

SER. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 47/

Christ," through all the successive stages of their
pilgrimage in this world. " Having loved his
own, he loves them to the end," and " keeps
them in the love of God." " They love his
appearing," and prepare for it. He follows
them constantly, with his eye of kindness and
compassion. His mercy sanctifies their depar-
ture from this world, and fortifies their courage,
till their last struggle is over. It follows them
beyond the grave; and, when they shall hereaf-
ter stand together before his judgment-seat,
they shall there find the justice of the Judge,
tempered with the mercy of the Saviour. Eter-
nal life will then be their's : All will then be per-
fect : and mercy itself will be swallowed up in
love.

The admonition which I have endeavoured
to illustrate, contains a most important rule,
which ought to govern our whole lives.

Personal religion is to be " built up on our
most holy faith." But " faith without works is
dead;" and the ends of practical Christianity are
not attained, if the great objects of our faith and
hope are not habitually and minutely applied, to
the various departments of our peculiar duties, and

478 CULTIVATION OF SER. 14.

if they are not steadily opposed to all the perni-
cious influence of the sensible world. The weak-
ness of human nature will not permit us to rest
our conduct, either on the clearest convictions of
the understanding, or on the best intentions of the
mind. But the prayer of faith, which becomes
our habit and our resource, will inspire us with
a fortitude and perseverance in our duties, above
our natural strength, and with "good liope
through o-race," which will not desert us in our
greatest struggles. Personal religion is the most
important interest of human life, and ought to
be the object of our first solicitude. Our com-
fort, even in this world, and every estimable qua-
lity which we are capable of attaining, depend on
it. He who is known to make " pure and un-
dented religion" the chief concern and the indis-
pensible rule of his life, is not only happy in his
own mind, but is an object of general confidence
and esteem, even when his natural endowments
have not been great. On the other hand, the
power of vital godliness, not only habitually and
earnestly cultivated by the faith of the gospel,
and by the continued intercourse of the mind
with God, but visibly illustrated by purity of

SElt. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 479

conduct, and by the active virtues of a useful
life, will give splendour and dignity to the most
conspicuous talents, and happiness to the worst
conditions of mankind.

But the effects of religion, in this world, con-
stitute but a small part of the blessings which we
derive from it. It is the hope of eternal salva-
tion ° by Jesus Christ our Lord," which raises
Christianity far above every other object of the
human mind; and the means by which we
attain or even preserve this " blessed hope," are
entitled to our first and most sedulous attention,
during the whole extent and progress of human
life.

Christianity adds to all our consolations this
precious assurance, that the imperfection of hu-
man attainments will not deprive us, either of
the comfort resulting from the hope of the gos-
pel, or of the final possession of eternal life.
If " we keep ourselves in the love of God,"
waiting for his Son from heaven, whom he
raised from the dead ; even Jesus " who hath
delivered us from the wrath to come # ;" the ten-

* 1 Thes. i. 10.

480 CULTIVATION, &C. SE$. 14.

der mercy of our compassionate Redeemer shall
console us, till we are for ever released from
our infirmities : And " in him, though now we
see him not, believing, we shall rejoice with
joy unspeakable and full of glory V

* 1 Peter i. 8.

FINIS.

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10. — A Sloop of war, of Eighteen-Guus, on the newest construction.

2 Important Works published by

IX, — Sheer-Draught, Half-Breadth Plan, Body-Plan, and Plan of
the Bulk Heads, of the Dart and Arrow, Sloops of war, on the
construction invented by Samuel Bentham, Esq. Inspector-
General of His Majesty's Naval Works.
12. — Sheer-Draught, Half-Breadth, and Body-Plans of the New-
Brigs of War, of Eighteen-Guns, on the plan of those con-
structed in 1804.

13. — Inboard Works of the same.

14. — Plans of the Deck, Lower Deck, and Platforms of the same.

15. — Shear-Draught, Half-Breadth, and Body-Plans, of His Majesty's
Neiv Yacht, the Royal Sovereign, launched in 1804.

16. — Sheer-Draught, &c, of the Yacht built for the Prince-Royal
of Denmark.

17. — Plan of the interior of a Fire-Ship.

18. — Plan of the interior of a Bomb-Vessel.

19. — A King's Cutter, of Ten-Guns, with the figures and construction
of Sliding Keels.

20.— Sheer-Draught, Half-Breadth, and Body-Plans, of an East
Indiaman, of 1257 tons, on a scale of nearly l-4th of an inch to
a foot.

21. — Sheer-Draught, Half-Breadth, and Body-Plans, of a Merchant
Ship, of 544 tons, on the same scale.

22. — A Brig Collier of improved construction, 170 tons.

23. — A Virginia-built Boat, of 158 tons, fitted for a Privateer.

24. — A fast-sailing Schooner, of Bermuda, burden 83 tons.

25. — A Virginia Pilot-Boat, of 53 tons.

26. — A Berwick Smack, on the improved construction.

27. — A London Trader, of 60 tons, particularly distinguished for her
united qualities of capacity and velocity.

28. — A Southampton Hoy, of 13 tons, admired for the same qualities.

29. — A Man-of-war's Long-Boat, on a large 6cale, exhibiting the
principles of Whole-Moulding, &c.

30. — A Man-of-war's Launch, on a large scale.

31. — A Man-of-war's Pinnace, on the same scale.

32. — A Man-of-war's Cutter, on the same scale.

33. — A Man-of-war's Yawl, on the same scale.

34.- — A large Wherry, on the same scale.

35. — The New Life-Boat, as constructed by Mr. Greathead, on the.
same scale.

36. — A Whale-Boat, on the same spale.

37. — A Dover Gigg, or Swift Roiving-Boat. on the same scale.

38. — Laying-off, plate 1, Fore-Body and Moulds.

— — 2, After-Body.

3, Fore and After Cant-Bodies.

. . 4, Transoms.

-5, Square Tuck, and Round-aft Tuck.
-6, Hawse Pieces.

■ — 7, Harpins and several parts of the Head and

Stern.
39._Plans, Elevations, and Sections, of the different contrivances

for fitting the Store-Rooms, &c, on the Orlop of an Eighty-Gun

Ship ; shewing the Method of flitting all Ships of the Line

in future.
63s The Plates of Laying-off are all on the same scale as the
Draughts above-mentioned of the Eighty-Gun Ship.

In a Country whose natural strength and greatest ornament is her
Navy, it is unnecessary to expiate on the utility and value of this
work. It is sufficient to say, that it comprises fully, both in Theory
and Practice, all that can be required by the artist for a full and ac-
curate knowledge of the art, both for the King's and for the Mer-
chants' Service, from a first rate ship to the smallest boat. The

W. Simphin and R. Marshall.

manuscript to the first edition was many years in a progressive state;
during which period, every attention was paid, and every exertion
made, to collect and to combine nil the modern improvements in the
practical construction, with the correct theory, as investigated by
actual experiments ; and the successive editions have brought down
the principles and practise of ship-building to its present state of
perfection.

The Tables of Dimensions and Quantities, including all the Iron-
work, were never before given to the public, and which are far more
extensive and correct than any others heretofore seen, have alone
occupied, for a considerable period, the time and attention of several
persons, who have devoted the fruits of a lone experience to this pur-
pose; and they will, consequently, be found particularly valuable to
the ship-builder in the formation of his estimates, which may, by their
means, be computed to on unexampled degree of accuracy.

The work commences with a much more full and accurate expla-
nation of the Terms used in Ship-building tlian has ever before ap-
peared : comprehending, also, a variety of other useful information
for the use of the artist. It then proceeds to treat of fluids, and
comprises, in this division, an interesting account of a great number
of experiments which have been made for determining the resistance
of floating bodies J especially all those which were made under the
directions of the Society instituted for the Improvement of Naval
Architecture. The other branches of the science are then discussed
in a regular progressive arrangement, in which are detailed, with
the utmost precision and clearness, the methods of imparting to ships
and vessels of every description all the most desirable qualities.
Copious instructions are then given for delineating the several draughts
nnd plans of a ship : namely, the Sheer-Draught, Half-Breadth and
Body Plans, Disposition of the Frame Timbers, Planking expanded,
Inboard Works, Plans of the Decks, &e. Next follows, in the same
perspicuous manner, a complete explanation of the methods of
Laying-off all the parts of a ship on the Mould-loft floor, with the
method of construction by Whole Moulding, and practical directions
for the actual Building, Launching, &c.

To the whole are added Miscellaneous Observations on Improve-
ments and projected Improvements; including the explanation of a
new method proposed for the Framing of Ships, and of the best mode
of adopting iron fastenings in their construction; together with
Observations upon Timber, and Kules for its admeasurement and
conversion.

in this work will therefore be found, detailed in an uniform and
perspicuous style, all that can be required by the novice for his in-
struction, and by the adept for his practice, in this important art.
And, as Gentlemen of the most extensive knowledge in the several
departments have been consulted and employed in the different
branches, the whole may be considered os the result of the united ex-
perience and talents of the most eminent naval architects of Britain.

SUtorrttermrKt to tfjc Cf)trtr Ottixm.

In presenting this third edition to the notice of the public,
the proprietors bee: to state, that an Appendix has been added,
which contains a minute detail of the principles and practice of con-
Structing the Royal and Mercantile Navies, invented and introduced
by Sir R. SeppingS, Surveyor of His Majesty's Navy. This method
of Ship-building is illustrated by Six Plans, which are added to the
work. The kppendix is writt< d 1>> John Knowi.es, F. R.S. Secre-
tary to the Committee of Surveyors of His Majesty's Navy.

%* The Appendix, containing Sir Robert Seppings' improvements,

Viai/ be had separately l>>/ the purchasers of the former Edilio)iS of this

worh.— Pi-ice £1. lit. Od.

Important Works published by

ON THE FIRST OF APRIL WAS PUBLISHED,
No. I. of the

NATURALIST'S REPOSITORY,

Or Monthly Miscellany of

CONSISTING OF

Elegantly Coloured Plates, with Appropriate Scientific and General
Descriptions of the most curious, scarce, and beautiful

PRODUCTIONS OF NATURE

That have been recently discovered in various Parts of the World ;
and more especially of such Novelties as from their extreme Rarity
remain entirely undescribed, or which have not been duly noticed by
any preceding Naturalist.

The whole composed according to the latest improvements in the
various departments of the Science, and forming collectively, a truly
valuable Compendium of the most important Discoveries of Quadru-
peds, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, Insects, Shells, Marine Productions,
and every other interesting object of Natural History, the produce
of Foreign Climates. By E. Donovan, F. L. S. W. S. &c.

ffioTft of ftu&Ucatiotr.

I« — The Work to be completed in 60 Monthly Numbers, price
Three Shillings and Sixpence each.

II- — It will be handsomely printed in royal octavo, upon a superfine
wove paper, and when completed will form five handsome volumes.

HI- — The Plates will be entirely original, as every subject will he
drawn, engraved, and finished in colours exclusively from nature.

IV-— Each volume will contain an appropriate Index ; and a
general systematic arrangement of the whole contents will be added
at the close of the Fifth Volume.

ADDRESS.

IN submitting to the Public this new endeavour to illustrate
the science of Natural History, the Author conceives it incumbent
to state the leading points upon which its pretensions to notice are
more immediately founded.

The outline of this work is amply detailed in the title-page :
is designed to constitute an elegant as well as useful miscellany of
the most scarce and beautiful productions of nature that have at
various recent periods been discovered in remote parts of the world,
and more especially of such Novelties as from their extreme rarity
are little known, or which have not been hitherto duly noticed by any
preceding naturalist :— a work, in which it is proposed to combine
science with novelty and beauty, and which, in its collective form, it
is respectfully conceived may be found worthy of the particular at-
tention of the Naturalist and the Amateur as well as the general
admirer of nature,

W. Simpkin and R. Marshall.

Every one, U is presumed, will be aware that the labours of tho
Author's lift, during a course of many years, have been directed
to the pursuits of Natural Science: labours, not confined to any one
particular branch or department of the varied face of nature, but ex-
tending generally to the whole. The endeavours of the Author to
elucidate the Natural History of the British Isles are sufficiently
known from the various extensive works which have been produced
by bun during the course of the last thirty years, and the magnitude
which those works have at length acquired in the progressive mode
of publication that had been adopted is the best criterion of the public
approbation that has attended them. But, it is not within the views
of the Author in this place to expatiate upon a subject which might
be deemed irrelevant, the work9 alluded to being devoted solely to
the productions of our native country, whilo the avowed object of the
present undertaking is to comprehend a selection of those only which
are peculiar to foreign, and with few exceptions, to extra European
climates. The motive of the Author in adverting to those works is
chiefly to point out a style and mode of execution for the present
undertaking, which, from the very extensive patronage those former
labours of the Author have experienced may be considered appli-
cable in a very peculiar degree to every purpose of correct elucida-
tion, and as one most likely to ensure by its elegance and perfection
that same proportion of general approbation which the other pro-
ductions of the author have obtained.

With respect to the means within the Author's power of rendering
the work deserving of the public notice, cither as to the noveltv,
variety, rarity, or beauty of the various objects it is destined to em-
brace, the Author must rather trust to the favourable opinion which
the world may entertain in his behalf than to any preliminary obser-
vations he can olfer; he presumes respectfully that they are ade-
quate to the purpose and calculated to answer every moderate
expectation his observations may have excited.

. It can scarcely be distrusted that the opportunities of the Author's
life, so assiduously devoted to the Science of Nature, must have
enabled him to enrich his porlfcniUes with a collection of Drawings,
Manuscripts, and Memoranda of no mean importance, in all its
various branches. — This is perfectly correct. — His own museum,
confined chiefly, but not exclusively, to the productions of Great
Britain, have, notwithstanding, afforded rarities, the offspring pf
foreign climes, which could not elsewhere.be procured. But, inde-
pendently of those resources which his own collection has afforded,
bis other means have been amply extensive : — through the kindness
of his scientific friends he has had access uulimitted to many other
collections of acknowledged moment for the purpose of enriching

n important Works published by

his Collectanea with Drawings and Descriptions of the more inte-
resting rarities which those Cabinets respectively contained. Some1
of those collections exist no longer and are probably now forgotten,
but the memory of others, even among the number of those which
have passed away, will be ever cherished with regret in the mind
of every man of science by whom their merits were understood. The
preservation even of some minor portion of the rarities which those
collections once embodied can scarcely fail to prove of interest at
the present day, while their total loss to the rising generation will
be in some degree appreciated from these memorials, and from the
occasional references that will appear respecting them in the pro-
gress of the present work.

In conclusion — it may be observed, however, that while in our
elucidation of those rarities which the collections and museums
above alluded to have so amply afforded, we render a deserved tri-
bute of record to the liberality of those whose services in the cause
of Natural History have so essentially contributed to its advance-
ment in former days, the Author will not remain unmindful of those
advantages which the many valuable collections of the present period
offer. It will appear, as he proceeds with this work, that he is in no
small degree indebted to the favour of some eminent scientific cha-
racters of our own time as well as those which have preceded
them, for their permission to take Drawings and Descriptions of
such rarities as really appear worthy of his distinct consideration.
And it may be added, finally, that he shall, at all times, avail himself
with pleasure and acknowledge with thanks any further advantages'
of the same kind which the favours of others may be induced to
allow him for the purpose of enriching the present undertakings

A DICTIONARY OF RELIGIOUS OPINIONS ; or a Concise
Account of the various Denominations into which the Christian Pro-
fession is divided ; including Biographical Sketches of the Founders
of the different Denominations, and a View of the Ecclesiastical
Government peculiar to each Sect. A New Edition : Revised, Cor-
rected, and Enlarged. By William Jones, Author of the Biblical
Cyclopaedia, and History of the Christian Church, with a fine
Portrait of the most Eminent Reformers. — 5s. Boards.

" The Description of each Sect is given with Very tolerable accu-
racy and candour ; and we can fairly say, that it is upon the whole,
the best Book of the kind which we have seen." — British Critic.

A COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS, called Psalms of
Degrees ; in which, among many other interesting subjects, the
Scriptural Doctrine respecting the Divinely Instituted and Honour-
able Estate of Matrimony is Explained and Defended, in opposition
to the Popish Errors of Monastic Seclusion and Enforced Celibacy.
By that eminent Reformer and Champion of the Faith, Martin Lather.
To which is prefixed, an Historical Account of the Monastic Life,
particularly the Monasteries of England, with an Engraving of
Monastic Habits. — 10*. Gd. Boards.

W. Simphiit and R. Marshall.

In Three Volumes Octavo, illustrated with Maps and Plates,
Price £2. 2s. Boards,

STATISTICAL ACCOUNT

UPPER CANADA,

Compiled with a rieir to a grand system of Emigration, in connection
with a Reform of the Poor Laws.

BY ROBERT GOURLAY.

" Thy spirit, Independence, let me share,
Lord of the lion-heart and eagle-eye."

This work introduces to notice objects of the highest public im-
portance, and such as call loudly for the immediate investigation of
parliament. The crisis is arrived when North American Colonies
must either be abandoned, or be governed on principles entirely new.
A commissioner has just arrived from Upper Canada, dispatched by
the legislature of that province, to lay at the foot of the throne an
address, calling upon the home government for its interference ; and
the parliament of Lower Canada having dissented from the will of
the Governor has been dismissed.

Mr. Gourlay went out to Upper Canada in 1817, and being highly
pleased with the country, offered to publish in England a Statistical
Account of it, if the inhabitants would furnish materials. These
materials occupy one of the volumes, and altogether must he con-
sidered as the best authenticated information ever brought from
America to England. They regard the history of the province, its
boundaries and divisions, lakes, rivers, cataracts, settlements, po-
pulation, climate, animals, government, revenue and taxes, com-
merce, religion, price of land and encouragement to settlers, state of
learning, character and manners of the inhabitants, together with
upwards of fifty agricultural reports of town ships, signed by and in
the name of many hundreds of the resident land owners ; most parti-
cularly detailing every kind of information requisite for settlers
emigrating from Europe.

While collecting this information, Mr. Gourlay discovered causes
which barred all hope of Upper Canada being improved to aih antage.
He discovered that though it was by nature the finest part of America,
and capable of yielding prolit to the mother country, all was waste
and corruption from mismanagement, lie advised the people to
send home a commission for inquiry, and was persecuted in the
orueleSt manner tor endeavouring to make good his object ; which
necessity is now accomplishing.

What chiefly engaged the seal of Mr. Gourlay. was the fact, that
any number of people could be transported annuallj and settled in
Upper Canada with comfort to the individuals and profit to the
nation ; ami that the poor-law s of England could be abolished safely
and effectually while a grand system of emigration was^maintairred.
Persevering in this belief he has attended in London for two years
to press the consideration of this vast scheme of benevolence; and
has, during the present and two 1 1 ->t sessions of parliament had peti-
tions regularly presented and printed to keep alive his object]
which requires oul} public patlOBage to mature.

8 Important Works published by Simpkin and Marshall.

ENGLISH SYNONYMES EXPLAINED, in Alphabetical
order ; with copious Illlustrations and Examples drawn from the
best Writers ; the Second Edition, greatly enlarged and corrected.
By George Crabb, M. A. Author of the Universal Technological
Dictionary. — £1. 1*. Boards.

AN APOLOGY FOR THE LIFE OF COLLEY CIBBER,

Comedian ; containing an Historical View of the Stage in his own
time, with copious Accounts of the Actors and Theatrical Events
with which he was connected at its most interesting era. Enlarged
by about two hundred Notes vipon the Biography, Criticism, Nar-
rative, and Anecdote of the Author, and furnished exclusively with
a Preface and an Index. By Edmund Bellchambers. One Vol.
8vo. with a fine Portrait of the Author. — 12s. Boards.

AN EXPOSITION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, with De-
votional and Practical Reflections for the use of Families. By the
late Rev. Job Orton, S.T.P. Published from the Author's Manu-
scripts, by Robert Gentleman. A New Edition, with the Life of the
Author, by Andrew Kippis, D. D. F. R. S. and an Index of Matters
contained in the Notes and Reflections. Six vols. 8vo.— £3. 3s. Bds.

A GENERAL HISTORY OF MUSIC, from the earliest times
to the present ; comprising the Lives of eminent Composers and
Musical Writers : the whole accompanied with Notes and Obser-
vations, Critical and Illustrative. By Thomas Bushby, Mus. Doc.
Author of a Musical Dictionary, &c. Two Vols. 8vo.' — £1. 8*. Bds.

A THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY, containing Definitions of
all Religious Terms ; Comprehensive View of every Article in the
System of Divinity ; an Impartial Account of all the Principal De-
nominations which have subsisted in the Religious World, from the
Birth of Christ to the present day : together with an accurate State-
ment of the most Remarkable Transactions and Events recorded in
Ecclesiastical History. By the late Rev. Charles Buck. Fifth
Edition. Two Vols. 8vo.— £1. Is. Boards.

LETTERS TO W. WILBERFORCE, Esq. M. P. to which is
added an Answer to Melancthon, his Vindicator ; demonstrating the
Inconsistency of a Protestant Christian and the Impolicy of a British
Legislator in Advocating the Roman Catholic Claims. By Amicus
Protestans. — 5*. 6d.

NUOVO DIZIONARIO PORTATILE, Italiano Francese, e
Francese Italiano, compendiato da quello, D'Alberti ; Arrichito di
tutti i termini proprj delle Scienze e dell' Arti, delle Conjugazioni
dc' Verbi regolari c irregolari, e disposto all'uso degl' Italiani e de
Francesi. Per Giuseppe Martinelli. Two Vols. 11*. — 12*. Bound.

IN THE PRESS,

In One Volume Svo. with a fine Portrait of the Author, by T. Woolnoth, from
an Original Miniature.

THE SPEECHES OF CHARLES PHILLIPS, Esq. delivered
at the Bar and on Various Public Occasions in Ireland and England.
Second Edition, with many Additional Speeches. Edited by Himself.

RECOLLECTIONS OF CURRAN and some of his Contempo-
raries. By Charles Phillips, Esq. Barrister at Law. Second Edition.
One Vol. 8vo. with a fine Portrait.

THE ART OF BREWING PORTER AND ALE, particularly
adapted to the Use of Families of the Nobility, Gentry, Farmers,
and other Private Brewers ; with complete Instructions for Country
Victuallers who Brew at Home, and some Observations on Mr.
Accum's System of Brewing. Also an Account of Drugs, Tables of
Duties, Laws of Excise, the Art of Sweetening Casks, Instructions
for Making-up Spirits, Purchasing Wines, &c. &c, on a plain and
new plan. By John Tuck, Brewer, late of Croydon. One Vol. 8vo.